Miles stalked closer to the bushes. They rustled for a single moment before he pounced. "I'm sorry!" a voice rang out.
Bass came jogging over as Miles yanked the young boy out of the shrubbery. "What's going on?"
"That's exactly what Jackson here was about to tell me," Miles responded, shaking the boy by the scruff.
Bass looked at their 'son'. The boy's parents had died trying to protect him and their food early in the blackout. Miles wasn't sure about taking in a kid while they were on the road but Bass insisted. Jackson wouldn't have survived on his own. He was too skinny for a start and just ten years old. "Jackson, what's going on?" Bass repeated quietly.
"I wanted to come with you," Jackson explained. "I wanted to fight."
"Absolutely not," Miles stated.
Jackson opened his mouth but Bass cut him off. "Miles is right," he said softly. "The battlefield is no place for a boy like you."
"But dad…"
Bass crouched down to Jackson's level. "One day, you'll be big enough to fight alongside me and Miles. But not yet Jackson. Right now, you need to go back to camp where we know you'll be safe."
"who's going to protect you then?"
Miles snorted. "We'll protect each other," he stated. "Just like always."
Jackson looked between them. "But you won't come back."
"Of course we will," Bass insisted. "We always come back."
"That's what my other parents said. And they never came back."
Bass gripped the boy's shoulders. "Jackson, I swear to you, Miles and I are coming back." He looked into the blue eyes that could almost mirror his own. "I would never lie to you about something like that."
"Alright," Jackson agreed quietly. He turned to Miles. "Can you carry me back?"
Miles rolled his eyes. "You got legs, right?"
"Please?"
"We'll get him there faster," Bass murmured.
Miles let out a put upon sigh and lifted Jackson into his arms. "The things I do for you people," he sighed.
They carried him back to where camp where the spouses and children of the fledgling militia were waiting. Miles decided they should leave Jackson with Julia Neville. She was very motherly and had sharper eyes than her husband. Julia would notice if the ten year old went missing. "You mind taking on one more?" Miles asked he noticed the pile of kids playing inside her tent.
"I'm practically the camp babysitter," Julia smiled. "Set him with the others. I'm sure we can find something for him to do."
Miles set Jackson down among the other children while Bass spoke quietly to Julia. "How is the campaign going?" she asked.
"It's going," Bass hedged. He caught her look that said he wasn't even remotely fooling her. "The war won't last forever, Julia. We'll have a new government working soon. You'll see."
"Just promise me that Tom will still be around when that new government comes."
"I promise you I'll do all I can." Bass offered her a half smile. "Some of it is his decision too."
Julia smiled as Miles joined them. "You two need to get back to your men. They'd be lost without the pair of you. Go win the war so we can have real homes already."
"Yes ma'am," Miles agreed.
Julia smiled as the two went off to fight another battle in this seemingly endless war. She glanced back at where Jackson was playing with Jason. Julia hoped that the war wasn't really endless. The children deserved a real life and home.
The messengers came two days later. The battle had been won and the enemy was pushed back. Everyone had to strike camp and go join the army. Well used to this life by now, they struck camp quickly and were on the road in under an hour. It was still late when they met up with the army. Julia was pleased to discover that Tom had made it through the battle with only scratches. She left him with Jason as she went to find Jackson's fathers.
Bass and Miles were in the middle of camp as always. Miles believed in being right in the thick of the soldiers. Julia could hear the snuffling before she even entered. She found them both collapsed on their bed. They had probably intended to stay up to look over battle plans and just exhausted themselves. Julia knew first hand that no one threw themselves into battle like Miles Matheson. Some days she marveled that he was still among the living.
Jackson wiggled out of her arms and hurried to squirm in between his fathers. "Good night," she called to him.
"Night, Ms. Julia," Jackson mumbled, already being lulled to slumber by Bass and Miles' breathing.
A/N: For a friend on Tumblr who wanted Miles and Bass to adopt a kid. I date this around the time of the Trenton campaign so about five years after the black out. Which would make Jackson right around Charlie's age. Which will be covered in the sequel. (Yes, there is a sequel being planned). On a side note, who would read a story about Charlie and Bass being lovers that are separate while Charlie goes to inspect the borders and they communicate through letters?