Fractures

by MyWordsKnowWhatUReadInTheDark

What if *it* had all just been a bad dream? But it wasn't just a bad dream; there was more to it, and it was terrifying. A no-blackout AU in which Charlie starts to have visions of what could have been.

No Blackout - AU - mostly (Simultaneously Not exactly canon divergent either)
Horror/Comedy, Family fluffiness, and a dash or romance

Who: (Somewhat in order of appearance) Charlie Matheson, Danny Matheson, Miles Matheson, Sebastian Monroe, Rachael Matheson, Ben Matheson, Maggie Foster, Tom Neville, Jason Neville, Julia Neville, Maggie's Husband & children, Jeremy Baker, Aaron Pittman, Pricilla Pittman, the pendants (because they totally seem like their own character or at least deserving of such status for being so prolific)
Mentioned, but not appearing in person: Connor Bennett, Emma Bennett, Nora Clayton, the unnamed woman from the comic books, Randal Flynn

Rating: Teen+ - a non graphic sex scene (better explanation below,) strong language, mild violence, and alcohol consumption
(All in all, I'd say this is safe for work)

Summary: What if it had all just been a bad dream?
But it wasn't just a bad dream; there was more to it, and it was terrifying.

Charlie starts having strange dreams after reading a children's book. She starts to wonder if she's losing her mind, as they feel all too real.

Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to "Revolution" or its affiliated characters (That was formerly NBC and WB Studios/Universal. Currently DC comics?) (Though if I ever become rich enough, you bet your sweet bippy I'm buying it!) Awesomeness of the characters is totally owned by the actors who portrayed them. I just play around with the characters in my head for the fun of it; I make no money off of this what-so-ever. I may ride them hard, I may get them dirty; but I put them away clean for the next person who wants to enjoy them.
The Harry Potter book series belongs to J.K. Rowling.

Author's Notes:
There is a place where I put (1). I was going to write in my own words a summary of Revolution in the format of Charlie's dreams, for those I was sharing this with that haven't seen Revolution. I never completed it. (Thankfully I talk about the show enough that they could still appreciate this, and not be lost.)

This is one of the rare instances where the nano is such a strong component in my story. (you know...since generally I like to ignore their existence all together.)

I have quickly come to realize, this is the only story I've written out that is "safe" enough to post here on FF; all my rest are on DW and most on AO3.

Posted: 4 July 2017

What if it had all just been a bad dream.
But it wasn't just a bad dream, it was something more.

Rated Teen
strong language, mild violence, mentions of sex (nothing more than you'd see on CW,) alcohol consumption (c'mon, it's the Mathesons. Can you really write an authentic story with all of them 100% sober the entire time?)

No blackout AU
This is mostly a narrative, but it develops some Charlie/Jason. The pairing originally wasn't in the story. (Revised statement: It darn well took over the story. Still, the pairing is not the main point of the story, but helps the plot progress along.)
Miles and Bass aren't an item in this, (but perhaps there are some suppressed feelings.)

Though this concept has been around in sci-fi and in science circles for years, this story was specifically spurred while contemplating 'The Cursed Child.' No, there is no time-turner in this one. No, this is not a cross over.

Yes, my mischievous brain totally wanted to smutify this near the end of the story (who am I kidding, even near the middle,) but in my mind when I created this, it's not what it was meant to be. So here we are on the high and dry. A story that most likely would have gone down, but not necessarily the paths we wish it could have taken.
*wink wink nudge nudge*

(Speaking of such... the one sex scene in here, just because I didn't get much more descriptive beyond than that they were doing it, don't assume anything. Like most of my other stories, a condom was indeed used. Safe sex is important people!)

FRACTURES

Charlie was in her second year of college out at Kansas State University. Why there? They had good programs, it was far from home, and it was where the pin had landed. Don't get her wrong, she loved her parents, but she needed to get out and see more of the world than Berkeley, California. There was a great learning environment out there, but sometimes she felt suffocated under her parents' watchful eyes. Danny was doing great in his sophomore year of high school. His lungs had a new treatment, his asthma was under control, and he was even involved in a few sports. (Involved with, not necessarily a star player.)

At first Charlie hadn't been all that interested when he had mentioned he had started talking to Uncle Miles and his friend Bass. It had been for some school genealogy project. Even after it wrapped up, they had stayed in touch. It's not that she bought into whatever family drama there was with her parents and him, it's just she hadn't grown up knowing the guy all that well. Continuing that was just habit. And she was really busy with college. She shared in her brother's joy, listened intently in the stories he relayed, but she herself had no interest in reconnecting. Until now.

By whatever happenstance of fate she had actually grown up with out actually reading any of the Harry Potter books until this year, with the exception of 'Fantastic Beasts.' Halfway into the first 'Cursed Child' screenplay she started to have odd dreams she could barely remember, but they left her tossing and turning. By the time she was halfway through the second, they were much more vivid. When she completed it, some had seemed down right real. She was wondering if she should have even read the blasted thing, for now these dreams or nightmares of her own alternative realities plagued her almost nightly. Some nights she blamed it on Danny's new found connection to her long lost Uncle and showing her a picture of him and his best friend, but in her gut she knew it had more to do with the book. Some dreams were peaceful, like the ones where she lived on the beach with the guys, the ones where she was in college and the family was whole, never separated, living somewhere back East, some involved road trips, some she married a smiling cheerful Bass (yeah she found that strange,) but others were dark and strange like a sci-fi horror novel. Most of those dreams involved a dystopian blackout world that her parents created, and her Uncle and Bass made worse. The worst were the ones where she was Bass's prisoner, or worse yet the man with the cold eyes' and even sharper knives. She tried her best to suppress that dream. The most real of them all was a specific one about having no power. It continued on for days picking up where it left off when she dreamed it again. No matter how many other dreams she had, she knew this was part of that same world. This one, the power went out when she was young, and well... you know the rest. (1)

As she tried to come to grips with this, her concentration in class had started to slip. She knew she should have stayed over break to catch up, but she really just needed to spend time with family. That's how she found herself on Thanksgiving laying on the bed next to Danny, video chatting with Uncle Miles. Bass running around in the background finishing things for their dinner. Before she knew it, she had agreed to joining Danny to go see them over Winter Break. After ending the video call, Danny coaxed some of the story out of her. Her mix of sudden enthusiasm and even more trepidation was very suspicious, considering her previous indifference. Danny was contemplative for a bit before giving the simple reply of "Heavy." He gave her the big hug he knew she needed. This certainly explained why she came home for Thanksgiving. He knew there was more to the dreams she wasn't telling him, but he'd leave it be for now. ...That's what road trips were for anyhow right?

What Charlie hadn't anticipated was how much these dreams would carry over into her day to day life.

It was Winter Break and Charlie and Danny were meeting up at the Airport for the flight that would take them to Chicago. They had a few hours left, so they decided to go for dinner. As they left the restaurant and were waiting for a ride back to the airport, someone had tried to mug Charlie. Instinct had kicked in, the guy ended up with a broken wrist, his knife stuck in his bicep, laying flat on the ground and Charlie's boot pressed to his throat. She only let him up after he agreed to take off. She really didn't feel like a delayed flight, and getting the police involved, they definitely would have missed it. Danny was flabbergasted, "Where did you learn how to do that?" "Those dreams," she replied almost coldly, almost numbly, as it felt like ice was running through her veins. It was just too surreal for her to take in right now. "Ah," he replied quietly. Partially afraid of his sister, partially afraid for her. He could sense her fragile emotional state. He was grateful when their ride pulled up. He gave her a quick hug that she reciprocated, and they got inside. They didn't speak until about fifteen minutes after they took their seats on the airplane and she asked him about what movies he's seen lately.

When they arrived at the small apartment Miles and Bass shared, he greeted Daniel with a warm hug, Charlie opted for a handshake. "I thought you'd be more of a hug type person." She gave Miles a weak smile, Danny interjecting before it got weird, "We've had a rough day." She nodded and gave a soft "thank you" to Danny. "I was going to ask how the trip went, sorry to hear it." Miles and Bass were already taking their luggage from them and taking it down the hall to the small den that had become Bass' room. Danny looked over to his sister and she nodded, just as Miles prompted, "What happened?" So Danny relayed the events after restaurant. "Well, good on you kid for taking care of that creep!" Miles sounded so proud. "Thanks, but it's still so strange," Charlie sounded absolutely dejected and tired. He put his hand on her shoulder, "First time's always the hardest. Best thing is to talk about it." She knew this was the soldier in him talking. Bass had picked up on something, but couldn't quite name it, "But that's not what's bothering you is it though?" Her head snapped up at him and her stormy eyes met his, contemplating how much to say. Danny rubbed her back in reassurance. "No, it's not. ..but can I talk about it after we've had time to settle in?" "Yeah, of course. Want something to drink? I have fresh brewed iced tea." A smile slowly grew across her face and she laughed, "seriously, in the middle of winter. Who does that? But yeah, I'd love some." She absolutely loved how his own smile returned. It was nice seeing this version of him, so warm and carefree. Well, as carefree as could be. He was after all a soldier who had been to war, and lost his family all those years ago.

They had all been having good conversation for a couple hours when Charlie had gone quiet again. She didn't notice that everyone had noticed that she had checked out. Danny put his hand on her arm. She briefly looked at the faces around her, then back down to the carpet. She had the floor so to speak. "I didn't have any training. It was all just some dreams I've been having lately." and she gave an even more abridged version than what she had told Danny. She cuddled into his side the whole time and he held her protectively. Bass piped up. "Seriously, no training, not even watching videos?" "Nope." Miles gave him a cross look, and put his hand on hers. She flinched and almost pulled away, he would have too, but she relaxed. "That is really heavy shit. and it went on for weeks?" Miles sounded incredulous. "Yeah," she replied softly. "No wonder you're all messed up about it. You need to talk about it more... even if it's just with your brother. Everyone needs a shoulder to lean on." Him and Bass exchanged a knowing look. She nodded. God she needed to feel him right now, and it's as if he knew. He opened his arms for a hug and she didn't hesitate. He wrapped his arms around her and placed his chin on top of her head. This totally felt like home and she never wanted to leave. This was more amazing than she had imagined. It would have gotten awkward had she not started to fall asleep. He gently started to push her away from his chest and she woke up. "Hey, let's get you two kids some food, and some sleep." She sleepily agreed. Bass and Danny chuckling, not known that she had fallen asleep. Danny exclaiming that he was starving. They had planned on cooking, but ordered in a pizza for expediency.

She woke early, the sun hardly touching the sky. When Miles woke, she learned that Bass had already left for work. Miles had taken the week off. Later he asked if they could see what else she had picked up on from her dreams. She was okay with it, so he texted Bass and let him know to be ready for an attack when he got home. They liked to keep on their toes. She had almost bested Bass, and thought she had won when she threw him to the floor, but he wasn't finished. Still, they were impressed. Over the next couple days, they tried to polish her techniques and gave her pointers in what little time they had. Danny was still trying to wrap his head around this new version of his sister. She had always been confident, but now she was a bit more take change, especially as she became more comfortable in her own skin again. As she grew comfortable around the guys, her sadness started to ebb away.

Danny and Charlie looked forward to visiting again, and they were welcomed back any time.

As the weeks wore on, less new alternative reality dreams started coming, thus the AU dreams were less frequent all together. Then that one that was most realistic of all started having flashbacks at random points. Points of view from other peoples lives. Flash backs of her own AU memories. And playback from the beginning.

It was Spring Break and she had gone home to see her parents before going to visit Miles and Bass for a few days. She was working a few loops on her Mom's knitting project while her parents were cutting things for dinner, bored since she already finished setting the table. There was a lull in the conversation and her mind had wandered. "Hey, Mom, Dad?" "Yeah, Honey," her mom asked looking up momentarily from the carrots before her, noticing the serious tone her daughter's voice had taken on. "Can you promise me you'll never take on a job from the D.O.D?" Rachel and Ben shared a panicked look of understanding. They had turned one down years ago, burned their research and any traces of it, and moved their family out to California. They got jobs at UC Berkeley and downplayed their intelligence. "Yeah hon, of course." A moment went by before Rachel's curiosity (and paranoia and diligence,) got the best of her. "That's a very out of the blue kind of request, what brought it on?" Charlie debated for a moment. "I wish I could say it was the news or something like that, but the truth is that I've been having some bad dreams since Thanksgiving." Ben sighed "Is that why your grades are slipping? Danny said to go easy on you." They knew from experience that prying would have done them no good. She looked her dad in the eye, "Yeah, sorry, they've been really horrible. I'm trying my hardest." Rachael soothed, "Yeah, we know... Danny told us about the incident over winter break. We're glad you're okay." For a moment she was angry at her brother, but realized he was shaken up by the attack too. Ben added, "care to tell us how we raised such a strong resilient young woman?" She smiled warmly up at her dad, but he seen the sadness there too, like she had been through hell and back. He only ever seen those eyes from soldiers returning home from war and abuse victims. "It's in the genes," she laughed. He smiled back, but knew he'd try to get more out of her later. After dinner she was sitting on her bed with her head in her hands, when there was a soft knock on her door. Her Dad may have not been the Mulder to her mother's Scully, but he was more willing to listen. So when he sat down next to her and asked to hear more about the dreams that left her so shaken, he at least got an abbreviated version. This time with details more relevant to them. He agreed that they were awful, and vaguely said they hit a bit too close to home. He wished he could take the pain away.

Over breakfast she mentioned she had already started to track down this Maggie Foster person to see if she actually exists. She knew her Dad would have told her Mom some of what the dreams had been about. She hadn't told them anything about her. When they asked, she simply stated that she was a friend from the village. Her mom looked skeptical, but her Dad was on board if it would help in the healing process. He warned just not to get her hopes up. Danny listened with rapt attention, but kept silent. It wasn't until later that he tried urging her to try. Nothing to lose after all. He got Charlie to tell him that part of the story on the airplane. He found it fascinating. Sad in a way, but fascinating. He also needled Charlie into discovering how much she now knew about medicinal herbal healing. He laughed at her surprise and that he tricked her into digging that out of her subconscious. It more than made up though for having to relive the moments about their Mom disappearing from their lives. Now, not only could she kick butt, but she could heal people. Awesome!

Her parents still weren't fond of her and Danny reconnecting with Miles and Bass, but they didn't fully object either. All that she could get from her Mom was that she thinks it has something to do with Ben being mad at Miles for taking off for war. Charlie smelled bullshit, but she knew a grudge like this didn't reveal its secrets in a day. If the dream was anything to go by, her Mom didn't know that Ben knew her secret. That was a can of worms that Charlie had for the most part kept at the back of her mind. Until this trip.

They had all been hugging their warm welcomes and chatting while unloading the luggage from their shoulders when Charlie's eyes landed on the DNA home test kit on the end table. Her heart stopped, and resumed at a quickened pace, her blood having run cold and left her face. She pointed and asked who it was for. Everyone had noticed the shocked look on her face, the worry in her voice, and that she had gone pale. Bass spoke up, hesitation and a small amount of annoyance in his voice, but quietly as if trying not to frighten her "Me, I had someone write to me claiming to be my son. An affair I had over 20 years ago." Relief briefly washed over her and she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. Then she stiffened and stared him in the eyes, looking frightened again. "Connor and Emma?" He stared for a moment, and she heard the inhale of breath Miles made. "His middle name is Connor; How'd you know?" She breathed out a huff of disdain, "the dreams." The other three exchanged looks. Danny came up behind Charlie and put a hand on her shoulder, "But it isn't the thing about his son that had you upset, what's wrong?" "Nothing, don't worry about it." He was now in front of her and giving her that look. "Can we drop it," she pleaded. He relented and pulled her into a hug. "Yeah," he breathed softly.

Later when it was just the two of them talking over coffee and tea, she had a serious conversation with Miles about his health. At first he was reluctant, but he couldn't deny so far the things her dreams had been right about. He promised her he'd go for a check up and keep an eye on the things she pointed out. Finally she got up the nerve and told him why she freaked out about the DNA test. He was quiet at first, but then he divulged the affair that he and her mother had. It was a lot to take in. Half as a joke, half serious he asked her if she wanted to take a stab at it. She thought on it, sipping her from her mug that now contained hot cocoa. She decided they might as well. Never really knew for sure in the dreams, since Rachael had a way of making people chase their tails in circles for so long sometimes. She didn't see her Mother like that in real life, but she had seen her Mother work people like a pro. Genius indeed. And you always thought it was your idea. Charlie knew better.

Before she and Danny headed out, Miles encouraged her to send the letter he caught her fidgeting with so many times over the past few days. She sent out the letter at the airport. Danny was totally thrilled that she was going through with it and wished her luck. She had totally chickened out on sending the woman she found on Facebook a message. Somehow a letter just seemed... so much more formal.

Miles and Charlie did their tests separately and sent them out in secret from everyone else. They wanted the website to ping them naturally.

A couple weeks after Charlie got back to classes, she was in her dorm doing homework late one night, and received a call from a number she didn't recognize. She opened the trusty old flip phone and said Hello. "Ello, is this Charlie?" She recognized the voice immediately. "Maggie, it really is you! You got my letter. Yes, yes it's me, Charlie." Maggie laughed at this stranger's enthusiasm. Charlie thanked her profusely at taking a leap of faith and calling her. She had been vague enough in the letter so Maggie would know she was telling the truth and not sound like just some random stalker, but not enough to freak her out. Maggie asked for a bit of info about Charlie, then they got to talking about the dreams that prompted this and about their real lives. Before they knew it two hours had passed. Charlie thanked Maggie for all that she had done for Charlie and how she helped shaped Charlie into who she had become. She apologized for how nasty she had been to Maggie in that other world. Maggie replied that it was alright; they were in there here and now, and that's all that matters. Maggie had work in the morning and wanted to get a few hours of sleep. Her wonderful husband had agreed to take care of the kids in the morning since the nanny was unavailable. They exchanged contact info and agreed to get in touch soon. They ended up having weekly video chats. The kids fell in love with Charlie, sometimes asking her to read to them. Maggie loved getting to meet Danny. Eventually Charlie even roped her parents in on a conference call.

Miles was thrilled for her but there was still trepidation in his voice. She was able to get out of him that it was still a lot to wrap his head around. She understood.

A few weeks before finals she got an email saying that the DNA site got a relative match for her. She opened it up and logged in. There it was. Someone who registered in Chicago had a 99.99% chance of being her father, or a 17.82% chance of being her uncle. She wondered how that could be, but she had forgotten that Danny had registered too for the school project... it slightly muddled the results. Then she clicked on his link and it all made sense. She called Miles and asked him if he seen the results. He hadn't. Rarely checks email, and he was just waking up. He definitely sounded hung over. At first he was irritated at being woke up so early, before five in the evening, but got over it at what she had to say. His house guest was being whiny though. He shushed the other woman and him and Charlie discussed where to go from here. Basically things between them would remain unchanged. He was okay with Charlie asking her Mom about it. Neither one were looking forward to it, but she wanted to give her Mom a chance to come clean and tell her side of it. ...Charlie would wait until she was home for the summer though to open that bag of cats. After swearing Danny to secrecy, she did tell him. He assured her he could play it cool for a few weeks.

Encouraged by finding out that the Maggie she knew from the dreams really existed, she wondered what Jason was like in this life if he too was real. Would they stand a chance with out being on opposing sides of the war? She mostly had had crappy boyfriends up until this point so mostly remained single. She opened her laptop and started searching for a Tom Neville in the general vicinity she thought she remembered they lived before the blackout. Before long she had made up a Notepad file of where they lived, and where he worked. Yup, he had been an insurance adjuster, but was now a used car salesman. She smiled... this was going to be too easy.

She called up her brother. "Hey Dan Dan." "Yeah, Charles, what are you up to brat?" He could practically hear the grin through the phone. "You want to take a vacation with me to Pennsylvania for a couple weeks this summer? You could bring along a friend." "You know I would have said yes anyhow, what are you up to?" "Can't I just want to spend time with my brother?" And they did, long after their parents had quit taking them, too busy with work, Charlie had continued to take him on summer vacations; everything from camping to Disney and everything in between. "Yeah, but c'mon Charlie, you can't keep it from me. Is this another dream thing, like with Maggie?" He could practically hear her blush in the pause. "...Yes." "You want to throw a pillow at me." ..."no." "Yes." "yes." He laughed. "So it's a boy," he teased. "Well, technically a man now if I'm correct." "Alright, count me in if you're buying. I think I'll invite Jake." She wrinkled her nose. "Don't worry sis, I'll tell him you're not interested." Not that Jake was bad looking, she just wasn't into the follow her around like a puppy dog, or the stare, drool, and not have the balls to ask her out types. "Okay, I'm thinking about three weeks home, then we fly out."

Finals would have been hell enough with out everything else going on. It leveled the playing field though having the wonderful chats with Maggie. She really knew how to soothe a person's nerves. ...and she insisted on tea, which made Charlie laugh. Maggie had discretely ordered Charlie some mint chamomile over an online site in the States and it arrived as a surprise just in time for finals.

Her grades had started picking up again, finally being able to get this all off her chest, despite some of the odd unexpected curve balls.

One day she received a text from Miles "Bass won't quit laughing his ass off. Thinks Rachael will try collecting back child support." She received a picture from Bass sporting a black eye. "Call the cops, Miles is abusing me." Miles texted again "He called me Daddy for the 500th time today." Charlie laughed at their antics. Oy vey. (she knew Bass really didn't want her to call the cops.)

Things had been relaxed at home, and her parents appreciated this less aloof version of her, but every now and then she caught them whispering, hurriedly trying to finish conversations. Somehow the revelation of Maggie had changed something. Those conversations made her skin prickle. They'd stop talking about it and the feeling would pass. Finally one night at dinner she confronted them, they had asked Danny to give them a moment. Charlie insisted she'd just tell him anyway, so they let him stay. Her Dad did a quick sweep of the house with something, then turned up some music and nodded. Her mother leaned in towards her, "Charlie, those dreams you had, scared the hell out of us. They dredged up a past we thought we had buried. Trying to find a cure for Danny we ran into some interesting algorithms. But when we ran tests we didn't like what we seen. We already started shutting down the program when the Department of Defense caught a whiff and approached us. We torched what we had, and never looked back." She was holding Charlie's hand, but was looking guiltily at the floor now. Charlie's jaw had fallen to it. She picked it up, set it back in place and tried to calm her Mom, her own nerves were fried at the implication. With a shaky breath, in a shaky voice, "As Maggie says, We have the here and now. You two did the right thing, so we have the here and now. Danny is okay despite it." Ben rubbed his hand over her shoulder "It must be scary seeing what would have been had we taken the easy route." She nodded. He continued, "We'll hold to the promise we gave you before, we won't do anything with that code." She mouthed "Thank you" through her tears. "Maybe later you can tell us the whole damn scary thing," her Mother coaxed. Charlie nodded, now wrapped in her arms for comfort, and grateful her Mom was finally ready to listen. Ben went and turned the music back down.

It was their weekly video chat with the guys, tonight Charlie and Danny were sharing some pizza and play fighting over floor space. Miles ingenuously chided them about acting like children. Charlie laughed, then Bass came over held Miles nose closed for a few seconds, then Miles threw a pillow at Bass. "Uh huh... now who's the children?" She laughed. Miles eyes lit up, "Oh Hey, I have some good news! That Jeremy guy you told us about, he really exists, and we're going to meet him next week." "Fantastic, hope it goes well. Well, I know it'll go well." Charlie had filled them in more about their friend from the other world. Upon hearing all the success she'd have so far, the guys were inspired to try expanding their friend pool. She winked at him, "Maybe you can try looking up Nora next." "Who's Nora," he asked blankly. "The chick who makes things go boom! I'm telling you Miles, she has a great ass." "Oh right. Charlie! language." She laughed, "Seriously, Dad of all the stuff that's come out of my mouth, you're going to scold me for that." "Yeah, well, you don't need to go meddling in my love life." Bass mumbled something about "What love life?" Miles replied "Dick!" In truth Charlie's heart felt a pang, but it was something she had to ignore. It was unfair to want all of their attention for herself. She could share them with Danny, but he was part of her entire world too. "Well, I figured I should at least have you add her to your list of conquests before I introduce you to the woman that will get me another sibling out of you." Miles choked on the sip of beer he had just taken. "Christ woman, you are ruthless!" "You're the one who brought up a love life." Bass replied close enough to the mic, "She has you there Miles." Bass kissed him on the nose, and Miles aggravatedly swatted away his friend.

A few days later Charlie was in the kitchen making fresh pasta while her mom drained some tomatoes and helped Charlie when she needed it. The pesto would have to wait until Ben got home, that was his specialty. He was working late though so wouldn't be home for a while. Danny was out playing basketball with some friends somewhere. "Mom, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Her Mom was cautious. Usually Charlie just came right out and said things these days unless it had to do with those awful dreams. Those scarily way too real dreams. Charlie could hear the trepidation in her Mom's voice, "Yeah Charlie?" It was a warm and inviting as she could make it. "In the dream, when we were on the run from Monroe," (If she was talking about this life's version she called him by Bass, if it were a good dream version it was Sebastian, if it were an awful nightmare version, it was always Monroe.) Rachael cringed. Charlie continued, "...you told Miles there was something he should know." Rachael's eyes looked up at Charlie's face. "Y-you... You said, you implied that I was his daughter. I seen a memory of you and him in the kitchen back east. The same one we have photos of." Charlie had gone through the old family albums the last time she was home. "Charlie..." Charlie put her hand up. "Mom I just want to hear your side of it. Miles and I got a DNA test done last month and it came back confirming he's my father." Rachael was totally flummoxed. Charlie gave her time to process. Rachael sunk to the floor. "I'm so sorry." "It's okay Mom. I just want to know. How." Finally Rachael told Charlie about how it all went down and that she had been in love with Miles, but she just couldn't deal with the thought of being a soldier's wife, always worrying if he'd come home. They had tried dating, but while he was away at basic, she had fallen in love with Ben, her intellectual equal. "Mom... I think the real reason Dad is mad at Miles is because he knows... and no one ever came clean." "Maybe." "Mom... think of the timing. He's not an idiot." Rachael put her head in her hands. She went over to her Mom and rubbed her not flour covered head on her Mom's arm, Rachael gave it a pat and light squeeze. "If this dinner is going to work, maybe we should try to get Dad to air his grievances before the guys arrive." "I dunno Charlie." "I'll try to work my magic on him." "Alright."

Charlie had indeed gotten her Dad to open up. It turns out it was more than just Miles being her real father, it went way back to their childhood about stuff that now seemed petty, but he still hadn't been able to let go. Time just made it harder to even try to reconcile. Never seen the need. The kids seemed happy enough not knowing him until recently. And honestly too many soldiers had PTSD and they wanted to keep the little ones safe. As the years went on they kept the kids away from the darkness growing in the others' eyes. Charlie assured him that they were much better now. Bass still misses his family, but is otherwise doing fine. Ben agreed to try his best to get to know his brother again. Charlie assured Ben he was still her Dad. They hugged it out for a while.

The family dinner a few days later actually went really well. At first everyone was walking on eggshells, but soon it all eased into a familiar type of routine like the guys had never left. Everyone was laughing and smiling. Cracking jokes and telling stories, catching up on the past 20ish years. This is what Charlie imagined family dinners should have been like all along. She even had some memories of when Miles and Bass did visit when she was younger. Her heart ached that they missed out on so many years. Thanks to these odd dreams, she was being given a second chance though.

Rachael nearly freaked out though the next day when she walked in after work to Charlie and Bass practicing some hand to hand combat. Bass had flipped Charlie to the ground really roughly, and it looked like she was done for, but Charlie used the momentum to flip Bass over her head, bring him down to the ground and knee him in the solar plexus. She had just been about to pin him when her Mom's hysterics finally distracted her. Bass did a final knee sweep, landing her on her butt, she glared at him. He offered her a hand up. Charlie assured her Mom that everything was fine, they even made sure to move the furniture a safe distance out of the way. Her Mom just wasn't used to seeing a warrior in the house... let alone two. It was a shock seeing how much the dreams had changed her little angel. She calmed down quickly though realizing it's this very thing that kept her baby safe. She wrapped her arms around her daughter and apologized. "It's okay Mom." Rachael kissed the top of her head and told her to go get washed up. Rachael's eyes never left Bass. He felt like he was being judged... and he was right. She was thinking of the Monroe in the stories. Charlie caught the end of the glare as she was getting out of the hug. "Mom, it's okay, I asked them to help me practice." Rachael patted her head, "I know." Bass offered the words as a peace offering "Mothers will always worry about their children Charlie, mother bear is a term for a reason." It did earn Bass a brief smile from Rachael. As a vague apology after Charlie left the room, she explained to him "I'm still coming to terms with how the two worlds are coming together." She looked him up and down from toe to head once and left the room. Bass now was confident the cold death glare had to do with that awful other world in the dreams. Rachael surely didn't think he was that other person, did she? How much does she know? The ironic thing is that Charlie still didn't tell them how much her parents were responsible for the blackout, well at least not specific details. Just that they were in their sciency way.

When Charlie was going over the trip details with her Mom the next day, that's when Miles and Bass learned about it and were being over protective. Finally they relented. She insisted she couldn't take a knife with her. Her Mom surprisingly was the one who pointed out they had trained her well enough in self defense. ...and that she wasn't going to be alone. Of course they then had their own ideas about reconnaissance and how she should approach the matter. She insisted she had it under control, but thanked them.

They were staying for a few more days, and the kids were heading to the airport at midnight. Their flight left at 3am. That got them a discount. From the airport in PA, they would get a ride to the B&B in Allentown, catch some sleep, then get a rental car. Jake annoyed her to no end, but once she figured out he was doing it on purpose, the tables turned and they were evenly matched in wits. Soon all the jibes became fun. By the time they actually were checking in, it was like they had been friends forever. Jake was also in on the spy thing. They scoped out the used car lot. As she drove by, Tom was actually out on the lot with a couple next to a classy looking convertible. "Oh My Grilled Cheese! That's actually Tom!" "Jeeze Charlie! He gives me the creeps! You want that guy to be your father-in-law." She felt the bile rise in her throat "God no!" Danny left it well enough alone and didn't pick on her any more, but sympathetically added. "That bad eh?" "Yeah... but who knows... Maybe I can get along with him in this life. And it's just a date... for all I know Jason and I won't even get along, he could be gay." Danny cut her off, "what's your record now... like five in five; he's not gay." Jake just sat in back listening. He was slightly confused; he had been filled in somewhat, but the most he knew is that Danny's sister had been having some oddly prophetic, or rather, truth revealing dreams lately. He heard about Maggie, he heard about her obtaining ninja like skills over night, and Danny of course had told Jake about how his sister went from indifferent to wanting to meet Miles... that was how the whole conversation got started. Now he knew she had a dream about some boyfriend, and found out the guy actually exists. Jake had asked if it was possible they just met online, but Danny assured him, that's not the case.

She dropped them off in town, now that they knew where the dealership was. They had the Nevilles' home address and the routes she was planning on taking back to the car dealership. In case she disappeared, they could go to the police. She drove back to the lot and parked in customer parking. When someone else approached, she said she was just looking for now. He handed her a card. Fifteen minutes later he came and said he had to leave early, and if there was anything she wanted to look at, the assistant associate Tom was available to help her. Sure enough as happens in car lots, it wasn't long before he was out working his charm. She shook his hand and tried to suppress the heebie jeebies. She was looking at a $3,000 rust bucket. "What can we help you with today?" "I'm just looking for a cheap clunker for college." His snake like smile eased across his face. "Why not go with this beauty," his hand lovingly landed on an older black Cadillac sedan going for $17,800. "She's a reliable old beaut, and I guarantee," he lightly kicked the little old fading pile of rust "that thing will cost you more money in repairs in the short term and long term." She eyes the Cadillac apprehensively. "It's quite a bit more than I was looking to spend." "Did you have any more you took a liking to?" She pointed over to a blue and yellow Bug that was going for $5,200. "Naw, that thing will choke you out of your own tailgate party." He crooked his finger, turned around, and spoke over his shoulder, "I think I have just the one. Follow me if you would." He led her to a jewel forest green custom painted Mini going for $9,799 and grinned like a mischievous cat. He leaned on it with one palm flat against the hood, and crossed one ankle over the other leg. He was about to ask her what she thought, but her eyes led her a few more cars over to a classic powder baby blue car with a bubble roof, tan leather seats, and fish tail rear end. She guffawed at the price though. "$10,000 (it was closer to $11,000) is a deal on a classic like this. It has some reconditioning issues, but we didn't want a gem like this rotting away. Tell ya what, take it for a drive and if you like it, I'll sell it to you for $7,700 if you buy it today."
Damn, he drove a hard bargain. "Mister...? " "Neville, but it's fine of you call me Tom." "Mister Neville Sir, would you happen to have a son around my age?" she asked, putting her plan into place. He looked confused and annoyed, "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?" "Tell you what, you get me a date with your son, and I'll take it for a test drive." He looked pissed and ready to explode. "This is not a dating service..." "Please, I know that... I've just had awful luck dating and figured this has to be better than blind dates through those mobile apps. I've struck out at home and college." He actually softened. "Fine, I'll ask him if he'll be up for it." Jason, so far hadn't brought home anyone they had approved of. This young lady seemed well put together. Confident, polite, and didn't dress slutty. It was something. and sales had been slow this month. She pulled a pad of paper and pen from her bag, and wrote down her name and phone number. He looked back up at her after taking it. "The price goes up after close today Miss Matheson." Of course it does, greasy weasel. She smiled sweetly at him. "I'll look forward to taking it for a test drive." and she batted her eye lashes at him. She couldn't help it. Watching his blood boil was almost as amusing in this realm. He glared while trying to calm himself down. He tried calling his son, but got voicemail. "I'll get back to you on it." "Thank you Mister Neville." She reached out for a handshake, and he reluctantly took her hand. "I'm going to take off for now. I'll stop back in." "I'll call you later when I have an answer." She nodded and went on her way.

She was about to hop in the shower. Her and the boys were going for dinner and a movie later. For now she was finishing her cup of ramen. Her phone rang, it was a local number judging from the area code. She picked it up and answered, "Hello, this is Charlotte Matheson." Tom was quick and to the point, not even using pleasantries, "He agreed. The Pomello Pony. 2 PM. Casual." He didn't even wait for a reply before hanging up. She hopped on the internet really quick and looked it up. It was a little bistro cafe in town. She texted her brother that she had a date tomorrow. The local girl that was walking next to him eeped when all of a sudden he raised his fists in the air and high-fived his friend. The other girl that was next to his friend teased him about the high five. "Operation Sexy Spy is a go, Charlie got her bonus at the car lot today." Jake replied, "Niiiiice." "Tomorrow 2PM." Jake turned to the girl on his side, "Doing anything tomorrow afternoon," and waggled his eyebrows at her.

Thankfully the boys hadn't brought their new "friends" to the movie, Charlie had wanted to spend some time with her brother after all. Jake enjoyed getting to annoy the crap out of her. All in all, they had a great time.

The next day around noon. "Really Charlie, are you sure you don't want us to go with you." "Naw, you know I'll be fine." "Famous last words. We can keep our distance. You really should play it safe." "Danny, just as much as I knew Tom & I wouldn't get along, I know that Jason will never hurt me." "No, but someone else could." "I'll keep you up to date. If you want to you can walk by that part of town, but don't hover." "Yeah, yeah. Jake & I had plans anyhow. But I just want you to know you come first." "I know lil' bro." She ruffled his hair. "What plans?" He blushed, "Our own plans... that involve long legs, longer hair, and pretty eyes." She smiled and shook her head. "You good on money?" "Yeah, we're good." He could get money any time he wanted from their parents, but when she went to college they gave her her own credit card and raised her spending allowance. She barely ever needed anything, so she had quite the savings account, and often liked to spoil her little brother. She didn't waste her money on booze like so many of her college counterparts. Sometimes she'd even buy food for those she knew couldn't afford it.

She had her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail made with braided strands of hair. She was wearing a shortish white lace long sleeve dress with a thick chemise underneath. White leather riding boots. Light purple eye shadow. It was 2:12pm. She was near breathless as she recognized him from behind as she walked up the sidewalk from the parking lot. He was sitting at an outside table looking at a menu. She walked past him as to not startle him. "Jason?" He looked up, stunned at first, then smiled. "Yeah. Charlie?" She smiled and had a seat before he could get up. "Sorry I'm late, my jacket got stuck in the door at the place we're staying and I had to go change." He chuckled "happens to the best of us." She looked over the menu a bit "So what's good here?" He made a few suggestions, then thought to ask what she was in the mood for and helped her narrow it down. The waiter came and took their order. "So, that was pretty ballsy to set up a date through an auto negotiation." She laughed, "most people just go for an air freshener, or $1000 gas card or something... why sell myself short." He smiled a genuine smile. He already felt like saying that she is worth it, but he held back. "True enough." Before long they discussed where she lived, their college lives, that she was here on vacation with her brother. He asked why here, she replied why not and told him about the places they had been. Two hours after it began they felt they had overstayed their welcome after the waiter had started giving dirty looks. Jason tried paying for them both, but she insisted she pay for her half. He finally relented when she told him how much her monthly allowance was. She kissed him on his cheek and he pulled her in for a hug. "I hope I can see you again tomorrow." She blushed and smiled "I would like that." They exchanged info. She was floating on cloud nine.

As promised she showed up to the car lot, but this time with her brother and his friend in tow. She took the old blue classic for the test drive. It sputtered a bit, but Danny said it was an easy fix. Tom tried selling it to her for $8,682. She countered with $7,777 tax, title, etc included. When she waved around the $4000 cash in his face, he accepted, she put the rest on her credit card. He made a call to a friend of his that worked at another garage and got her in quickly. He said he was doing her that favor since his son had said she had impeccable manners, and was actually on vacation. "California's a long drive." "Yeah, but I like the car... and your son made a good impression on me. ...Besides I have to give my little bro the experience of a road trip before he graduates." Tom actually laughed good naturedly at the last part. "Indeed. I did that teenage rite of passage in my youth too. Hope she treats you well." Tom patted the side of the car. Jake actually had his learner's permit and drove the rental back to the garage, where Charlie was dropping off her new ride. She dropped them off in town at the pool and then parked outside the Nevilles' house. She nervously walked up to the beautiful house and knocked on the door. Jason answered after a minute. "Hey come on in. I just need to finish something up really quick, then we can go for a walk or something," and he took off out of sight. He had no idea how much those words meant to her. A walk, with Jason. So much walking. She shook her head to clear her thoughts, then went and sat down in the grand living room to wait until Jason got back. There were floor to ceiling windows, leather furniture, a large in-wall flat screen TV, a fireplace, hardwood built in book shelves, statuettes. She was used to high class living, but this was opulence. Though she didn't really expect anything else from Julia. Jason came back, drinking down an iced tea. "Okay, I'm done. You want anything to drink?" "No, I'm good, thanks." She held up her bottle of water that she brought with her. "So, what do you want to do?" Jason asked as he pulled a fresh black running shirt on over his head. Oh how she wanted to stare some more. He was just as perfect in reality as he was in her dreams. "That walk sounds fine," she managed to squeak out. squeak out? When did she ever sound like a flustered high school girl who couldn't contain herself. He chuckled, "Alright, a walk it is. The neighborhood is beautiful." That was all the awkwardness there was though, they easily slipped into conversation, and before long, he had slipped his fingers into hers. He smiled when she didn't pulled away, but mutually relished the entwined digits. She rubbed her thumb along his. They talked about everything from family, to the types of movies they like, to what their dating lives had been like (and he was indeed, currently single.) She wasn't surprised to find out that his parents were strict. They even debated if the dinosaurs were in fact the ones to build the pyramids. They were coming back toward his house. When he spoke, his voice was sad. "I wish you didn't have to go back west." They both came to a halt. She looked down, "I'm going to miss you too." She leaned up and kissed him on the lips. He leaned into it, but didn't push for more than the soft contact. They made it back to the house. "So, you want to come in and watch a movie, or just sit and talk or something?" "You don't have to go to work?" "No, I got the day off." So she came in. She looked so nervous. "Hey, what's up?" "I just... umm... can we..." She pointed up stairs. He gulped, "you mean..." She pressed into him, pressed her lips to his, her tongue tracing against his bottom lip, asking for entrance. He played into the deepening of the kiss and moaned. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. "My Mom would kill me if I didn't ask you to clarify with words. Hell, she'll kill me anyhow ..." Charlie laughed, pure Julia. "Yeah, I was asking for sex." Jason looked hesitant. Charlie helped... "Yeah, I normally don't put out so soon either, but vacation, and I feel like I've known you forever." He leaned his forehead against hers "Yeah." and kissed her lips. He took her hand and led her to his room. She still was too scared to tell him about the dreams yet. She knew she could trust him, but she was too afraid to lose him.

They were having a pretty good rhythm going and hadn't heard the door downstairs open, and didn't know Jason's Mom was home until the knock on his bedroom door. You think the woman would have learned by now (after walking in too many times to her son taking care of business,) but when she didn't get a response she thought he just had his headphones on. "How'd things go today Jaso..." She stopped mid-sentence as she stared down at the two de-clothed bodies that just stopped moving under the blankets. Jason was grabbing some sheet to try and regain Charlie's modesty. Julia averted her eyes. "Um... better than expected," Jason choked out. Charlie piped up. "Nice to meet you Mrs. Neville... though I had hoped it would have been under more presentable circumstances. You have a lovely home." Julia almost laughed. She wasn't used to most people having so much poise even fully clothed, at a gala. The girl had panache. Charlie was holding out her hand. Julia shook it. "Thank you for the compliment. Jason, honey, would you like me to bake some cookies." Jason almost sounded impatient when he replied "No Mom, I'm fine." "Alright, come down when you're done, I'd like to speak to you." "Yes Ma'am." She closed the door. Charlie had to hand it to him, he hadn't lost much rigidity during that fiasco. They both burst out laughing more from nerves than anything else. They shared a kiss. "Sorry about that, she must have gotten out of work early." "Naw, that's fine, she seems nice." "You don't have to live with her." "Just wait 'til you meet my Mom." Jason smiled, it was a smirk that could rival Miles, since it came with a ridiculous amount of charm, "Oh, so I get to meet your parents." Charlie didn't back down, "it would be nice." He leaned down and kissed her deeply again, and resumed his activities below. "I certainly wouldn't mind," he added. Knowing his mom was now home, she had to try to keep her moans quiet. Damn, she hadn't had sex this good in... well, ever. After one particularly pleasurable thrust she asked, "can't I just pack you up in my suitcase and take you home with me." He smiled, kissed her neck, bit it lightly and replied near her ear, "wish I could." After giving her an amazing orgasm, with aftershocks of deliciousness, they laid there cuddling for a while. She let him know it was amazing, he told her it was fabulous. "Jason, there's something I have to tell you... and you're probably not going to believe me..." "You're actually a sparkly vampire, but you hide it with a spray tan?" "Shut up!" and she smacked him with a pillow. "Oh, so I guessed right," he teased. "Arrrgh!" He squeezed her tight and gave her a soft kiss on the lips. "Go on, I'll listen." She raised an eyebrow as if she didn't believe him. He put on his serious face, "promise." "Jason, I met you in a dream. I've been having a series of weird dreams for half a year now, most of them are about people I've yet to meet. but some I learn new skills in. Like one day I woke up knowing self defense, and another I woke up knowing what plants to use to heal people." "It does sound rather... odd." "I know its not easy to believe. Even my parents had a hard time believing me at first. ...but then I even dreamt that my uncle is really my father... and it turned out to be true." "Woah! Family drama. Nice." She smacked him on the arm. "Yeah." "Sorry." "It's okay, it all worked out anyhow. It actually has my Dad, and his brother talking again." He thought for a couple minutes... "So do we end up getting married and having kids or something?" Well, at least he was starting to accept it. She shook her head. "It doesn't work like that. It was a different post apocalyptic future. All I have are names, and sometimes places. I had your family's name and where you lived from before the event happened. He looked scared. She placed her hand on his arm. "Don't worry, it would have happened like when I was five. Like I said, it was a different future. He let out a sigh. "So what was I like in the other world?" She laughed. "You were sort of a double agent. But you were so in love with me, that you risked your own life trying to protect me, sometimes even defying orders. ...but you had double-crossed my team too many times, that in the end I wasn't able to forgive you." She looked really sad at that. He lifted her chin so she would look at him. "What's wrong?" She evaded the worst part about his story. "I just don't like thinking about those dreams, about that place." He nodded in understanding, and held her. "Sorry I brought it up." "It's getting easier to talk about... I just never got over losing you in that world." "Hey, I'm here now." "Yeah, my new friend Maggie from England says to live in the here and now. ...and that's what I keep trying to do." "Maggie from England eh?" "Yeah, in my dreams she was here on business when everything went to Hell. In real life she really had been here at that time. She was the first stranger I had reached out to. Totally freaked out my Uncle's friend when I seen a paternity test on the nightstand and told him his son and the mom's name. I was only partially wrong; in this reality it had been the son's middle name." Jason laughed. "That spot on eh?" "Yup." "But you could look up that stuff anywhere. over hear it in conversation." She stopped him. "The son was from an affair over 20 years ago." "Oh." "yeah." Jason scratched his neck, and thought for a bit when something occurred to him. "wait, did you fuck that guy too?!" She normally would have found jealousy to be a turn off, but it was so darn adorable on Jason. She kissed his nose. "In the dreams... once and it was only to piss off his dad. Trust me, I didn't have much interest in Monroe Jr. then, and I don't have any interest in him now." "What the hell kind of name is that?!" "The name of the villain in my story." "Oh." It was the second time Julia had walked by; Jason assured her it his mom was probably just getting changed after work.

When they made their way back down, sure enough, Julia was still in the same dress looking so formal and elegant on the leather sofa drinking a glass of champaign; even though she now sported fuzzy gray slippers and had shed her jewelry. "Jason Honey, thanks for taking care of that thing for me and taking out the garbage." "No problem." He came and kissed her on the cheek. "The steaks went bad, can you run to the store and get more." "Sure thing. Charlie, I have to run. See you tomorrow?" "Yeah, I'd love that." Julia interjected, "Jason, if you don't mind, we can have Charlie over for dinner." Jason nodded. "Charlie dear, how would you feel about that?" "That would be wonderful Mrs, Neville, thank you." "Be here by 6PM please." Jason had already shut the door. "Do I need to bring anything with me?" "Heavens no. Miss Matheson have a seat please." Julia indicated the overstuffed chair near the stairs." Charlie looked abashed. "Oh don't worry about that," Julia waved her hand in the general direction of upstairs. "We just won't tell Tom," and Julia winked at Charlie and smiled. Then her face grew solemn, "If you weren't going to be driving I'd offer you a drink." "I'm fine, but thank you Mrs. Neville." "You are so polite Miss Matheson," the smile returned to her face for a second. "But I think we can skip the formalities when it's just the two of us." Charlie nodded, "if you wish." "Tell me Charlie, do you have an uncle by the name of Miles?" Charlie was a little suspicious and hesitated to answer. Julia had grown so grave. "Yes... I do. Why?" "I couldn't help but overhear part of the conversation on my way through the upstairs. Besides a former president, what significance does the name General Monroe have to you?" Charlie grew cold and still and began to shake a little. Julia looked at her, reading her. "That's my reaction when I think of your Uncle's name." Charlie nodded in comprehension. "He's not that man." "Tell me when it happened to you? Were you reading something too when they started?" Charlie supplied " 'The Cursed Child.' " Julia whispered sadly, "me too." After a moment and another sip of the golden liquid she asked, "How are you dealing with it so well? I've been a mess. Tom almost had me admitted for depression." "I've just been talking about it to those I love, those close to me... they've been really supportive." "I don't think I could." "Julia, you have me now." "Thank you." Charlie nodded, then got up and gave Julia a hug. Not knowing if the woman would want one or accept one. She did hug Charlie back. "It was such a shock seeing you. I mean it was one thing walking in on my son... but I mean, it was really you." Charlie laughed. "Imagine the first time I reached out to a stranger half a world away, and as soon as I heard their voice on the phone, I knew I had found a long lost friend I never had." Julia laughed "It must have been strange indeed.." "Not nearly as strange as trying to come to terms that the man in my dreams responsible for thousands of deaths, is the lovable smiling jarhead I now call Uncle Bass. The flashbacks come at the most inopportune moments. The pain in his eyes when he sees that I fear him." "Yikes, so you actually have met him?" "Yeah, him and Uncle Miles are actually best friends... they share an apartment. have a secret handshake, braid each others hair." Julia burst out laughing. Tom walked in and raised an eyebrow. That paused the laughing, but only momentarily, the women looked at each other again and burst into fits of laughter. Julia got up to walk over and kiss Tom on the cheek. "Dinner will be a little late, I had to have Jason go pick up some more steaks." Tom just grunted, and took off his overcoat and sat down on the bench to unlace his shoes. "I hope you don't mind, but I invited Miss Matheson to dinner tomorrow night." He paused, looked over at Charlie, and it looked like he had much to say, but left it at "As long as she's not moving in, I don't care." Julia noticed his look of loathing. He got up, kissed her on the cheek, "if you don't mind, I'm going to head downstairs." "That's fine Dear; I'll be showing Miss Matheson out soon." After Tom had made his way down there, Charlie said out loud to herself more than anything, "Some things don't change." Julia barked out a laugh, "How true. Someday you'll have to tell me the whole story." "Charlie nodded, "sure thing Mrs Neville. I'll warn you though, it isn't pretty." "No, none of it really was." "What surprises me, is his disdain for me in this reality." "He doesn't trust people in general Charlie, he hasn't had an easy life. And he's as protective of Jason as if we had a daughter." Charlie smiled, "at least he's loved by both his parents, not all people are so lucky." "I think we're going to get along just fine Charlie." "Me too Julia. Well, I better be going, my brother will be expecting me back to the room soon?" "Danny?" "Yeah." "How is he?" "He's doing well, they found him a new treatment." "I'm glad to hear that. Poor thing." "Here and now Julia, here and now," Charlie repeated the mantra comfortingly. She now recognized the look on the other woman's face, she herself must have when she slips into the past... err ...memories. not the past, the other world. Julia got up to hug Charlie, and kissed her on the cheek. "See you tomorrow evening." Charlie kissed the other cheek, "6:00?" "Yes. Give Danny a hug for me." Charlie nodded.

Danny and Jake weren't at the B&B, but were getting ice cream. She went and joined them. It was a nice lazy feel at a beach like area. Her energy was palpable. Danny looked up at her and so did Jake. "Hey, do I need to scram... because there are some things I don't want to hear." "It's not that, but I do have things I want to tell Danny. ...I'll save it for later though." "Are you sure you won't implode," Danny grinned at her. She went and got a double Raspberry Shazammmn, on a sugar cone and came back. "So it was like super awesome. Jason & I get along super well. We may even try the long distance thing. Heck, at this rate we'll be married in a year." Danny got the joke, but also heard the seriousness. "It's good to see you finally found someone worth keeping... even if it is only to get the great shags punch card." Charlie punched Danny in the arm for that one. "Owe!" Even with her weaker arm she could still throw one heck of a swing now. "His Mom invited me to dinner tomorrow night." Danny choked on some of the last bits of cone he was munching down. When he recovered, "That quick eh, I thought you said they were up tight." "They are, I'll tell you more later. I thought I had just made a good first impression, but there's more to it." Charlie began laughing out loud. "So we were going at it, when she walks in. You should have seen the shocked look on her face. I acted completely natural as if we were meeting fully clothed down in the foyer. Her manners guided her and put her back in her comfort zone. I think she really appreciated it." Danny blurted out in disbelief, "No Way!" "Yeah, it would have been great to get video." "I would have watched it," Jake replied a little too eagerly. Charlie and Danny both glared at him. He put his hands up, then popped the last of his cone in his mouth.

Danny and Jake were back to their guy talk, so Charlie texted Miles. "Met the woman from my dreams who wanted to kill you for you threatening her life. Not who I came out here to meet. Having dinner with her tomorrow."
She got a call from him soon after. He had been perceptive though and soon realized it might also be the guy's mother. "Uh huh. Yeah. We really hit it off. Awwe, thanks. ...Oh yeah. Hey, you can't just rescind that. No, you don't have to kill anyone. Hey, I may want to marry him someday. Of course he'll meet you first. We were already discussing him coming out to meet everyone. Language. Yeah, I'm serious. Thanks. Love you too. Bye."

Danny and Jake were eyeing her now, they had totally been side tracked by her conversation. "Who was that, Uncle Miles?" "Yeah," she opened her messages and showed Danny her text to Miles. He laughed, then nodded in understanding. "You should ease up on him sometime." "I learned it from him, and I'm only dishing up the recipes he taught me." Sometimes Danny couldn't believe how snarky her sense of humor had gotten since the dreams. She was still mostly decent to him, but woe to anyone else who tried to start a war of words with her. And sometimes her and Miles could be ruthless with each other. Even when it seems they went too far, there was some unspoken line that neither crossed, and they came out laughing while the rest of the room stared on in shock.

Back at the B&B Jake went and watched TV while Charlie and Danny went and talked on a long swing under an old tree. She told him about it all (well, she left out details about the personal bits,) but he was completely shocked when she came to the part about Julia having the dreams too. He started asking all sorts of questions. "I don't know. I'll try to find out more, but so far they seem like the same dreams." "Do you know how big this is," he asked excitedly, "This is like X-Files big!" "Yeah, I know. It adds a whole new level of creepy," she concurred. "How many other people do you think had these dreams?" "I don't know Dan Dan. So far all I found is Julia, but what's to say reading the books won't trigger it for someone else. I don't even want to suggest it because the memories are so awful. You feel like this is a dream world after a while and begin to question your sanity." They sat there thinking for a while. She felt something gnawing at her until it finally surfaced. "I hope the wrong people don't have these dreams." "What to you mean Charlie?" "What if someone wanted to turn this into a reality." "Why would someone want to do that?!" "Greed. Pain, anger, suffering. People have all sorts of reasons. None of us are safe while Mom & Dad are alive. The more people I reach out to, the higher the chance there is of one of those people tracking them down." Danny hugged her tightly realizing the implications. "No more vacations and phone calls then eh?" "Yeah Danny, no more new friends after this."

She called her Mom "Hey Mom, I'm having a really good time out here, but Dan and I realized something while talking about a new development. You, me and Dad have something urgent to discuss when I get home." "Honey, what is it, you sound scared." "Mom, it's about those dreams. I'll tell you when I get home." "Okay." Rachael finally got the drift. "I did buy a car, so we'll be driving back." "Be safe, remember to fill up." "Yes Mom, We'll see you in about two weeks. We'll check in. Love you." "Love you too sweetie, see you soon."

The dinner with the Nevilles' went surprisingly well. Tom was actually on his best behavior. He was surprised to see that his wife was genuinely happy; smiling and laughing so that it actually came from her soul and reached the corners of her eyes. Though he still scowled when it was at his expense. Charlie and Julia seemed to have some unspoken language going on, and Jason was just as much at a loss as he was. Jason helped him clear away the table, letting the two women continue to chat away. In the kitchen Tom admitted to Jason, "I'm glad to see your mother enjoying herself. Any idea what they talked about yesterday?" "No, when I left it looked like Mom was going to skin Charlie." "Hmm." Jason, did have a small idea, but it was just a stray possibility. He was going to keep it to himself, his father definitely wouldn't like such a theory. They got the lovely mousse out of the refrigerator that his mom made and took it to the table. "Thank you boys, how wonderful for you to bring this out." "It isn't a problem Mom, you were enjoying yourself," and he smiled down at her. Charlie followed their lead, as she never had a desert like this in a formal setting, with cookies and stuff jutting out. Everything here was done in a southern proper kind of way. Even her back hurt, not used to having to maintain such a rigid posture. Thankfully, dessert was an excuse for some informality. The cookies could be eaten with fingers. ...Though Jason got scolded, but Tom soon followed suit. Julia made it look effortless to cut the cookie with her spoon. Charlie had tried to follow suit, but had started to squish the glop out of the dish, so she gave up and just picked them out with her fingers too. Julia sighed in exasperation. "Honestly, you two should know better. It's all in the wrist dear," she directed the last part at Charlie, then winked at her. By this time Jason and Tom had actually started a bit of a food fight and had gotten the mousse on each others' faces. Charlie was delighted seeing this side of Tom, she didn't know the man could have fun. Julia looked on fondly. Charlie admired the look of love Tom had for Jason in his eyes. She smiled at the scene.

After dinner the conversations slowly winded down, and Jason offered to walk her to her car. Julia and Tom showed her out. Julia giving her a warm embrace and said she hoped she would see her again and looked forward to their conversations. Tom shook her hand, and smiled sincerely when he said it was nice to meet her. He wished her safe travels. She thanked them for their hospitality, and thanked Tom for giving her the chance to meet his son. After she exited, Tom asked Julia what she thought, she replied that she thought the two young adults were smitten, absolutely smitten. Tom pulled his wife into a warm embrace, and she hugged him back relishing the feel of his love. Out at the car Charlie and Jason shared a very passionate kiss goodnight.

Jason had given them a list of things for them to do around town while waiting for the car to be worked on. He would have shown them around himself, but he had to work. There were some places they definitely would not have found otherwise, and some of the food was absolutely amazeballz. They had an amazing time, getting into ridiculous amounts of trouble, while somehow not crossing over the line into illegal. The boys told her that she'd have to thank Jason for them. "You can totally bring him home." "So all I had to do was shove french fries up a clown statue's nose and yell Fart?! sheesh, I should have tried that ages ago." He laughed, "Yup." She then slapped Danny up the backside of his head. Jake echoed the sentiment, "You should totally bring him home." Then belched really loud and listened to the repeating echo off the brick wall on the other side of the parking lot they were sitting in front of. "Five, that was definitely five echos." "Are you two sure you're just not more in love with this place," Charlie asked. The boys looked at each other a moment, then grinned and Danny replied "Naw, he could probably funify any place." In Danny's own way he was giving his sister his blessing.

Charlie took them to neat things along the way home and to national monuments and such. Stopping to things like the biggest ball of yarn, The biggest ball of foil, Niagara Falls, and the Grand Canyon. Just had to. The only time they almost ran into trouble was when Charlie took the wrong turn in Arizona and almost ran out of gas. This had to be one of the greatest trips she ever had and said as much to Danny late one night. She was just taking a break, getting something to eat; Jake was asleep in the back seat. He had a great time too. He noticed the nostalgic look on her face and asked what was up. She told him about this one dream where she was in college, and Mom and Dad were busy in D.C, so on leave, Miles and Bass took her on a road trip out west so she wouldn't be all alone during spring break. Danny knew that meant it was one of the dreams where he didn't make it. He patted her shoulder and she smiled at him around her bite of sandwich. She tried to lighten the now somber mood, "but I'm not taking you two to the bars, like they did for me." That had Danny laughing. Jake only stirred a little.

As they got closer to home, Charlie's mood got a little darker. Danny tired to reassure her that it would be okay. Jake was at a loss how to help. All they told him is that one of the dreams had her spooked. His parents were glad to get him home in one piece, and were surprised when Charlie said he actually wasn't much trouble. "Boys will be boys. The worst I had to put up with was five year old fart jokes." His dad laughed, his mom used his full name of Jacobson Albert Hinkersen and admonished him for not being a gentleman. Charlie reassured her that road trips are so teenagers can cut loose and that she kept them out of actual trouble. "All right then." and she ruffled her son's hair.

Charlie and Daniel were actually greeted by both their parents. "You're both home," Charlie stated with astonishment. Rachael was squeezing Charlie tightly. "Yeah, you had us worried sick, we wanted to be here when you got back, you said it was urgent." "It is, but not so urgent you had to skip work." "Its all right. We never use our vacation days anyhow." Charlie's dad was looking out the window, hugging his son, "Wow, nice pick," he was smiling. "Thanks Dad." "Even better that it came with such a great bonus." She had already told them how well her and Jason got along, and Danny had called them in disbelief that his sister had finally gone all girly over someone. "Now for some serious talk?" "yeah," Ben turned on the radio and turned it up. They gathered around the table and she told them what she found out about Julia. They discussed the implications of if the wrong people ever made this discovery. They started making safety protocols, and asked her to make up a name list. She made it of all the people she could think of, and placed them into categories. Over the following weeks it morphed into a project where they even had Charlie make up complete profiles. Eventually there was a special hidden safe they kept the info in. For the most part though it mainly lay forgotten as a just in case. They had agreed that Charlie wouldn't reach out to anyone else. That had indeed been smart thinking.

Other than that, the rest of the summer passed by pretty much uneventfully. Only difference is that Charlie and Danny spent a lot more time on video calls than ever before. Danny even became fast friends with Jason, much to Charlie's chagrin. It cut into her time that she got to talk to Jason alone.

Charlie and Danny spent the last week before school at Miles' and Bass' place. By now they all had a comfortable comradeship. They were playing a pop culture game they invented, similar to Trivial Pursuit, but where you didn't have to move pieces around the board, the winner was subjective, and this was messier. Charlie laid with her head on Miles lap, him propped up against the other end of the couch sipping his beer, Charlie on the oversized ottoman. Bass on the couch opposite Miles, Danny on the chair between them. Danny just got done throwing a piece of popcorn at Bass and making it in his mouth. Charlie had a focused look on her face and her voice was authoritative, "All right, Best 80's cartoon," she held up her hand, "With Out a sword or gun." "Kid, you're killing me!" Bass whined. "Damn, she got you in a corner brother." "Help me out." "Naw, I ain't loosing my lead." Danny kicked Miles foot lightly, "Who says you have the lead old man?!" "I do, it's my place." Danny checked a fake score sheet, "Oh I guess you are in the lead." He wasn't arguing, and the beer that Miles had bribed him with might be the cause. (Granted, he had one taste and it had quickly become Charlie's, and it soon became Miles' for later.)

Thanksgiving turned out to be a huge event. Charlie's parents let her invite her whole new tribe. Maggie and her family actually accepted the invitation. Now that Miles and Ben were on talking terms, the guys showed up and even had invited Jeremy along. Charlie was thrilled she got to meet him. He was even more adorable, charming, and fun in this life. Miles had yet to reach out to Nora though. Her parents even flew in the whole Neville family. (Rachael and Ben had handed out pendants to those in the know as they arrived, but explained they they were just replicas in looks. They were jammers that could be turned on to stop others from listening in via wiretapping and such, and gave a brief explanation of the need for secrecy. They had to hold off on giving Julia one when the Nevilles arrived.)

The only one not in on the know in the slightest was Tom, and the other guests had been made aware of the fact. Jeremy hadn't had an idea the scope of Charlie's dreams, but the guys tried to explain it on the trip over. When Charlie greeted the Nevilles at the door when they arrived, she pulled Julia off to the side and whispered to her. "Miles wanted me to tell you he's sorry for any pain the other him may have caused you. He knows it can't make up for what you've seen, but he hopes you two can find a way past it here." Julia sniffled, a tear running down her face, and smiled her appreciation and nodded. She pulled a tissue out of her purse to clean up really quick. Tom and Jason had noticed. Jason told his Dad he'd go check on her. Tom nodded and continued with introductions. Jason's mom waved him off. When he was sure she'd be fine, he went back to the kitchen. She looked up and from across the room, Miles caught her eye. She gave a weak smile and nodded. He reciprocated with the same. They'd try to make this work. "and I'm sorry about what Jason's wearing, but he swears it makes his eyes stand out. I tried to get him to change." Charlie squeezed Julia's arm reassuringly, "It's okay, really." Jason was wearing black slacks, shiny black dress shoes, a dark gray dress shirt, and a black tie. The women went to join the party, and Julia was surprised at how relaxed Charlie seemed around Monroe, no, Bass. But then someone made a joke and the way he lit up... She had never seen him so easy going, so happy. Leaning back in his chair, his arm naturally snaking around Miles waist, standing at his side. Julia leaned down to Charlie and asked if they were a couple. "No, Bass is just a naturally touchy feely guy, and Miles just flows with it. We're all used to it." Charlie whispered back. Julia quietly was like "Oh." They were all mingling for a while longer eating the hors d'oeuvres and finishing introductions, when Julia made the faux pas. She was so stuck in her formalities and nerves that she hadn't even realized her mistake until the room burst out laughing around her. She had stuck her hand out to Bass, trembling and said "It's an honor to meet you President Monroe." His face had gone blank. No one had ever addressed him as such, but in that moment the puzzle pieces fit together. And he knew her sense of panic, and knew the humiliation wouldn't help her any. He gave her his best disarming smile as he could while he shook her hand (he felt obliged to kiss her fingers, but thought her husband wouldn't approve,) "Julia, please feel free to call me Bass. We're all friends here." The room had silenced quickly after they too seen her panic and realized Tom wasn't in on the joke. They waited with baited breath to see what Bass would say. He got everything from whoops and applause to a pat on the back, and a "Well done." Maggie had the sense to steer her away from the commotion and have her go sit down. "Anyone care to explain to me what is going on" Tom demanded more than asked. "Impromptu Improv Dinner Theater," Miles answered more as a question than an answer. "Bullshit." "Dad, language." Tom glared and looked like he was ready to smack the kid, but he eased back down as all eyes were on him. Everyone looked around with questioning looks. Charlie's parents nodded to her. "Mr. Neville sir, can I talk to you alone for a bit, I'll explain. He looked over to his wife being comforted by the doctor. He nodded his head. She lead him into a small computer room. "All those people in there who aren't my family, I met because of strange dreams I've..." "Not you too." "Listen, we're not crazy. You're wife and I have even had some of the same dreams." Tom had been about to walk out of the room, but he had quickly seen how much sense it would make that his wife knew complete strangers. "So you're telling me that that man that's out there, his name really is Monroe?" "Yes, Sebastian Monroe... and his friend, my uncle is Miles Matheson." Now she had Tom's attention. "That son-of-a-bitch!" He looked ready to go storm off and kill the man. She tried to block the doorway. "Trust me, they never met before today." Tom still had fire in his eyes. "Those same dreams are the ones that led me to your family. ...and Maggie out there... she lives in England. and Jeremy who's now a friend. Has your wife ever mentioned a Captain Baker?" Tom slowed. "yes." "That's him. Jeremy was Captain Baker." Charlie wasn't sure she was doing the right thing telling Tom all this, but she didn't want the dinner to be a complete disaster. Finally he sighed and started to believe it some. "Let me guess, it started when you read that blasted story too." "Yeah." Tom "humphed." "Well, now that I've made an ass of myself, shall we go back?" "Tom..." he scowled at her. "Mr Neville," some of the scowl disappeared. "please don't tell anyone about this." "Didn't plan on it." he went to walk out, but she grabbed him by his jacket sleeve. "I'm serious Mr. Neville. It's very important." He could see the same fear in her eyes that he seen in his wife's so many times lately. "Some very bad people want this information, and they'll do anything to get it. To keep your family and the world safe you have to pretend you don't know." 30 minutes ago he would have thought her to be insane, but there was a sincerity to her voice, a raw honesty, that he couldn't deny that these seemed to be the words of someone who seen something, not a hallucinating lunatic. He nodded once. "Very well." He went to walk out again, and she added "and please, don't be too hard on your son, you'll want him by your side." For some reason those words echoed through him like a the ring of a bell, and he shivered. She had literally struck a chord. They rejoined the group. Julia was recovered by now. They held each other and she whispered her apologies to him, and he apologized for not believing her sooner. Surely this room held a secret society, or it was the beginning of some weird cult. Either way it was the strangest holiday meal he ever had, and he prayed he'd make it out alive.

Dinner was well underway, and eventually the conversation circled back around to the dreams. Tom quickly figured out everyone was in the know except him. He stated as much and they gave him a quick run down of who the "characters" were. (Of course leaving out the part that Charlie's parents were the cause of the loss of electricity.) At much urging from all those there, Charlie and Julia agreed to an abbreviated version of the dreams. PG of course since her kids were still young enough to get nightmares. Danny and Miles planted the idea that they should do it by candle light. The naysayers were out voted. It was decided that it would be done during dessert. Julia insisted she would be fine. So it began, and it was woven more like a ghost story. But sometimes they even enthusiastically completed each others sentences. It really freaked some of the listeners out. Sure there were times the story deviated and was told more from the perspective of one or the other. Non lit candle sticks were used as swords and other weapons. Sometimes Charlie used Miles & Bass as life sized props. When they finished up three hours later it was to a round of applause. Some people just sat there in stunned silence though. Charlie stood up and helped Mrs. Neville up off the ground. "Thanks you guys, but it's not like some play that was written for entertainment. It's a warning of what could have happened if people hadn't made the right moral decisions. That really could have been us." Julia just nodded in agreement and Charlie and her hugged. "Wow Mom, I had no idea you had been through so much, like you really lived through that." Jason came over and hugged his Mom. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all that." And people were thanking Rachael for her sacrifice. She just waved it off. Charlie had told it as she had "figured out" the code, instead of actually being the one that helped alter it in the first place. "It's not like it actually happened." "But it could have Rachael."

The Nevilles returned to their hotel room for the night, the other guests actually filling up the Mathesons' rooms for once. The next day was a feast of leftovers; and when the Nevilles returned, Jason and Charlie were nearly inseparable. Tom was in a much better mood today. After lunch most of the guys (not Ben) and a few of the women (including Maggie) went outside to play some football. After about an hour and a half they came in and in a flurry of activity helped clean up the house. At one point Tom sidled over to Ben and nonchalantly said, looks like we might be in-laws some day." Ben smiled, took a lazy sip of his beer, "Yup. They certainly look happy together. Honestly. I haven't ever seen Charlie this engrossed with someone." "So, she wasn't just making it up?" "Nope, trust me, I was quite skeptical when she said she wanted to fly all the way across the nation just to meet someone she knew from a dream. Had he been the first one, I would have put a stop to it." "You're more liberal than I ever would have been." Ben held his tongue. Couldn't she have picked someone with nicer parents. (Well, okay, Julia was nice, but still a bit neurotic.) ...and she failed to mention that her love interest's Dad is the one responsible for his death in the other world. He couldn't help but feel warm inside every time he caught his wife giving the other man a death glare. She'd catch Ben looking and smile innocently, like "What, I wasn't doing anything, Love you." and he'd smile back at her. Boy, Danny wasn't kidding when he said the guy is a prick. He reminded Danny of language, but now he laughed in his head. It was a most appropriate label. Cuddly as a cactus. ...and Danny was only retelling what Charlie had told him, not meeting the guy himself, but briefly. Supposedly the guy has a softer side, but he had yet to see it.

After a few more tense moments of Tom and Ben trying to make small talk, Tom eventually gave up and went an joined his wife, Maggie, and Danny near the kitchen. They were debating what constitutes a proper mushy breakfast. They all gave him equally disgusted looks when he stated he rather have his pickled herring and eggs. His wife kissed him on the nose and informed him it didn't qualify for this mushy breakfast debate. Charlie came by with a delicious smelling plate of fresh Belgium Waffles covered with syrupy fruit and whipped cream, and with a full mouth said she'd rather have toasty breakfast. Danny tried swiping some, but she pulled it away and told him to get his own. He asked her where she got it from and she stuck her tongue out at him and went and sat back down on Jason's lap and offered him some. He was stuffed from nibbling on leftovers for the past few hours. Danny tried looking around, but didn't see a source of the fresh waffles. "Hey, we have guests Charlie, you're being rude, where'd you get them." "Nice try brat! You just haven't sucked up to the right people." With that, Danny noticed that Miles was missing. He should have known. Maggie laughed as he took off on the Easter egg hunt. Jeremy had just come in from the deck where Bass was grilling some BBQ left over turkey. "Where's the fire," he quipped. Tom replied with amusement in his voice, "waffle hunt apparently. Hypothetical beans and mash wasn't satisfying enough." Jeremy looked confused until Maggie pointed over to where Charlie was sitting unaware she was now an example, and shoved the last huge bite in her mouth. Jeremy's eyes lit up and he exclaimed, "I'm game!" and with that he joined in the search for waffles. That got a laugh and some head shakes out of those near by.

The rest of the party went with out a hitch.

Maggie thanked her and her family on their next weekly video call. Julia of course sent a formal thank you card in the mail. Bass texted that Jeremy really enjoyed meeting everyone.

Other than staying in touch with everyone, and her and Jason making their long distance relationship official, things were all around quiet on the war front.

Then some time February got an urgent phone call from her mom.

Earlier in the day. Rachael was at home when the phone rang. It was so strange that someone called the house phone. Usually it was the University or a telemarketer. She didn't get to the phone in time, but they left a message; just someone asking to call them back at a phone number. The same number called back an hour later and she answered it. "Doctors Matheson, Rachael speaking." "Has Charlotte read the book" the voice on the other end asked. Rachael hung up and looked up the number. It was a private listing. The number called back 12 minutes later. Rachael was prepared to give the guy a piece of her mind, but the desperation in his voice stopped her. "Please don't hang up... its my wife. She's been mumbling something incoherently and it's all I could get out of her. Please, you got to help." Rachael thought for a moment, then replied calmly "Please tell me your name and I'll get back to you on it. Charlie isn't here." "Oh THANK YOU THANK YOU Thank you. My name is Aaron Pittman." Rachael was at a loss for words. She didn't remember many names from the list, but that one definitely stood out. Heck, she even knew who he was. "Yes, well Mr, Pittman, she's quite busy, so I don't know how soon I'll hear back from her. Is there a certain book I should ask her about?" She could practically hear Aaron thinking, and then the lie, "No, I just know there's a book." Well, good at least he understood somewhat how dangerous this is.

"Charlie honey, listen." "Mom?" "The Beaver called today." "You're certain?" "Yes, he's worried about Elvis. Elvis can't sing." "Do you think I can see about fixing Elvis's voice.?" "I dunno, we discussed how dangerous the Beaver can be... but his worry for Elvis seemed genuine." "Well, if she can meet me alone I'll see what I can do. Have her meet me tomorrow at 2 near the wildcat." "It sounded like she wasn't coherent enough." "Just tell the Beaver, I'm sure she'll come."

Rachael called back Mr. Google. He sounded skeptical, but he relented to Rachael's motherly nature when she said to consider how scared Charlie is meeting someone from over the phone. He wished the meeting could happen somewhere private. Rachael assured him they would be safer and more secure at the meeting spot she told him about. Before she hung up, he asked her if she had any idea what his wife meant when she said "Charlie is the key." Rachael honestly had no idea and told him that. And promptly texted it to her daughter after she hung up the phone.

The next day precisely at the strike of 2 PM the grief stricken, frightened Asian woman walked up to the statue in the courtyard where Charlie was working on some homework and sat down on the bench. Charlie pretended to still be doing her homework, but acknowledge the other woman after pressing her hand to her chest. Still, she kept her voice low. "Priscilla I'm glad you decided to come to me, I hope I can help." Priscilla sat there shaking for a bit still deciding on what to say. The tears just started streaming down her face. Charlie spoke up again, "You probably had it the worst of any of us." Priscilla just nodded at that. When she finally had calmed herself, she was all business. "Charlie, we can not let anyone get their hands on that technology. Awful things will happen. It's all real..." She just went on and on and Charlie couldn't stop her. Finally after about 20 minutes Priscilla said pretty much all she had to say. Charlie embraced the small shaking frame. When she pulled back she felt it was her turn. "and I agree with you. But I can tell you it is never going to happen so long as we keep it a secret where that technology came from." Priscilla had been through the ringer. Unlike the others she had served as the head of the nanotech in their group, and therefore was swamped with a lot more memories, and alien ones at that. Charlie caught her up on the fact that some other people knew, she didn't specify which ones, but they were working together to keep things secret. They knew one of the main enemies was Flynn. and stressed how dangerous it was for her husband to know anything about how the power went out since the government was watching him. Priscilla reminded Charlie that it was Aaron's base code that started it and that it was in computers everywhere. Charlie simply stated that so long as he didn't draw attention to it, there shouldn't be a problem. "Now, Priscilla, I want to show you something, and this is important. It is just a replica and does something very different than what you remember. Don't freak out" Charlie put a finger to her lips to signal silence, an Priscilla nodded. "This is why we can have this conversation here." and she pulled the pendant from her shirt. Priscilla had started to freak out, Charlie had to yank her back down, almost spilling her books on the ground. "Shhhh... honest it is a completely different program." Priscilla looked at her skeptically, but then decided she could be trusted. "We went with the design on purpose. We could identify others in the know quickly, and weed out those that just seek power." "Neat. I hadn't thought of that." Priscilla picked it up in her hand and looked it over thoughtfully. When she was done investigating it and letting it down, Charlie asked if she'd like one of her own. "No nanotech?" "NO, no nanotech." Charlie dug in the bottom of her bag, and placed it discretely in Priscilla's palm. "It doesn't work for cell and internet communication, but you can talk discretely in person. It has about an eight foot range. Send a package to one of my parents if you want to get in touch again. We have it on good authority "they" are starting to listen." "And you're sure your parents or Monroe aren't going to make the same mistakes again?" "Yes, I'm sure my parents and Bass aren't going to be any trouble. Just that guy I gave you the name of." Priscilla nodded and walked away with out any other preamble, or any other acknowledgement. 'What a strange woman' Charlie thought. ...then again, who wouldn't be after having their head filled with murderous nanobots.

Charlie called her mom back. "Hey Sunshine, what's up?" Charlie played along with the cheerful card. "You, me and Julia should have lunch, it's been too long." "That's a lovely idea; what were you thinking?" "Tea at her house.." "Spring break or this weekend." "This weekend. Bring slippers." "Are the floors that cold?" "Quite cold." On the surface it was all normal talk, but it was more code. Charlie told her mom to bring Dad, and the conversation she had with Priscilla was quite serious.

That weekend was the last gloomy one there was for years. They all remained vigilant for any sign of trouble.

The group got together as often as possible. Sometimes just to hang out, sometimes for holidays, sometimes for battle practice.

Charlie switched majors and dabbled in medicine, but opened a horse ranch (with a giant garden.) Jason finished out his college, but moved in with Charlie and became a farm hand.

Miles did eventually contact Nora, but she was married with children. They became long distance over the phone friends. One day years after the doody hit the fan and the group had to save the world (yeah, they really did. Power didn't go out, but Randal Flynn was closing in; ) Nora called Miles up. "You weren't kidding." "I kid about a lot of things, so you'll have to remind me what I didn't pull your leg about." "The book you idiot." "ohhhhh." "Yeah, oooooh. I think I would have got myself committed had I not had the warning. It's like a complete lobotomy and refill." Miles chuckled at that. "I was thinking more invasion of the body snatchers or brain worms, but I like your explanation better chicka." By this time both Miles and Bass had decided to drink the poisoned Kool-aid, so he was well aware of the wave of shit storms that followed. He hadn't told Nora that though. "Any time you want to talk to Charlie about it, she's more than willing to listen. Nora replied fondly, "Yeah, she's a pretty cool kid. ...Lady now though I suppose." Miles gave her Charlie's contact info. "So how'd your kids like the story?" "Oh, they loved it. Can't figure out why Mommy won't read it to them any more. Thankfully Dave has been supportive with out asking too many questions. Thank God horrible nightmares is a plausible explanation." "Heh... Thanksgiving dinners are going to be awkward again." Nora didn't get the humor at first then figured out what he was implying. "We go to Dave's mom's for Thanksgiving." "Not if Charlie can help it." Nora laughed, "then I better tell Dave there's been a change of plans this year." They both laughed. After a moment Miles said warmly, "Welcome aboard stranger." "Thank you," Nora replied with all her heart.

Three Christmases after that, years in the future Charlie held the shindig at her place. She laid peaceful against Miles' chest, holding her newest addition to the family against hers, she was fidgeting with Miles white and black ring as he made googlie eyes at his small granddaughter. Jason chased a squealing boy across the living room. Ben and Rachael sat near the fireplace, his arm wrapped around her shoulders, her arm reaching up to hold his hand. They smiled fondly at the scene before them. Bass was lost in his thoughts sipping a bourbon, looking out the side kitchen window at the falling snow.

Author's Exit notes:

I wanted to write more for the ending and had, but deleted it. The warm happy feeling got lost in the wordiness. Jeremy is there off scene in another room sleeping (jet lag.) Jason's parents are just arriving. (Both kids are Jason & Charlie's. No, despite my other stories, that cuddling is not implied Charlie/Miles. That's just a proud Grandpa, and a content exhausted mama.) (The ring... that's a bit something of side story in and of itself. And though all through the story my first statement was true about Miles & Bass not being a couple... Well... something shifted after they read HP&tCC. Though they won't say the words to each other, and they don't bone, they are something more than best friends... But they are in a weird limbo void too. Knowing how special they are to each other they had the rings commissioned. Because, you know... the tattoos just weren't enough. The rings actually first appeared in my AU/alt ending/fanfic of this and I couldn't let it go. That has a better description of them.) Bass was currently seeing the other reality, and was reflecting on how it all went to hell. He was seeing the lives lost, and feeling his loneliness. A thread was keeping him here, but it stung to know he could be that. He'd like to keep the life he had now. He turned and smiled as his eyes took in the sight over at the couch; shaking his head slightly to clear the thoughts. He took another sip of the amber liquid to wash away any of the sad remains, then went over to sit on the floor next to his two favorite people.

I never could peg Jeremy's status in this. He really wanted to be vague here. Normally I have some sort of idea in my stories, but in this one it was like he didn't have the greatest past and was closed off about it. He's happier now in the past couple years, but yeah. Sexuality? Dating history? Family? And it's not like I even wanted you to come to your own conclusions in this story like in some of my others. Nope, it's like he wanted to tell us to quit being so darn nosy. (If I had to guess though I'd say this Jeremy is bi or asexual, and either way, currently single and not looking. Has a happy family life... at least with two of his siblings.)

It wasn't until I did another rewatch that I realized my mind had combined Miles & Rachael's history with a flashback of Bass & Emma in the kitchen. It works for this story the way I wrote it, so I seen no point in changing it (though I had tried staying as true to cannon as possible.) I hope that those even more rabidly obsessed than I am can overlook/get past this faux pas. Sorry.

and if you think the scene where Julia walks in on Jason & Charlie is absurd/not believable (so I've been told), the way it went down; know that it's inspired by my own true life event.

Yes, I realized after... Maggie's children would probably be grown by now. ...just pretend she had them later or something. :- p

I originally didn't have Aaron & Priscilla in this as I'm not a fan of Priscilla, but either her or the story demanded it.

I hadn't done a rewatch of Season 2 yet at the time I wrote this, so I still was as untrusting of Rachael as ever and couldn't stand the idea of her and Miles together. Now that I've seen it again, I softened a little and realized I may have been a bit harsh in this story. I still don't like them as a couple personally, but now I can respect that Miles did actually care about her... a lot.

Please let me know how well you think I did with their "voices." Handling so many characters at once is a bit new for me. (Personally it almost chills me going back and seeing how easily I can slip into Tom. I think my weakest was probably either Ben or Danny... but it's not like we got much of Ben in the show anyhow.) This story had quite a bit different mood for me, going between macabre and humor. For me it was like the shifts in thunder from loud to silence. I'm more used to diving deep into the psychology of a situation, and I meant for the progression to be fast in this one (almost failed once Jason was introduced,) so I had to keep most things on the surface and I couldn't write paragraphs explaining just a single thought. (Plus, if I remember correctly, I wrote this during hiatus from Coast, and was in a really dark place. Charlie's tears still sing to me and her fears run through me. Her sadness makes me almost cry and I just want to hug her. ...I'm glad she got a happy ending.)

I highly encourage sequels, alt takes, AUs, etc of this story. It is just begging for them.

Full notes & Bonus AU ending chapter over at AO3 & DW