A/N – Not sure if this is going somewhere or if I'll leave it as a oneshot. Needless to say, I found the diamond theft to be too Ocean's Eleven-ish to not be borne of some type of absolute desperation. So, I decided to write a reason for that much desperation. One would think if the plan had been to go buy mercenaries, that they'd have brought money with them, and that the casino heist was just a last minute plan. I decided to make it very last minute, and I admit it – I am a Charloe girl. Call it a guilty pleasure lol. I hope you enjoy!

Bass walked with purpose through New Vegas. His meeting with Duncan had not gone as well as expected, but he supposed it could have gone worse. At least she hadn't had her clansmen shoot him on sight. And, with the way he'd broken off their relationship, it had been a possibility. But her anger had obviously not quite cooled. Thirty diamonds a head? It was unreasonable and they both knew it.

He made his way to the outskirts of town, avoiding the curious glances from a few of the gamblers and whores he'd become acquainted with during his previous stay here. He'd already overheard some of the gossip that his return had generated. A lot of it centered on the fact that Charlie had come with him. A few people had noticed her in town shortly before he'd disappeared. The buzz was that he'd left with her. Charlie's having accompanying them had seemed like a bad idea from the get go. It only seemed worse now. She was definitely a distraction, and Bass knew that her presence had something to do with the high price Duncan demanded.

He wasn't even sure why she'd come. After their last encounter outside Willoughby he'd been sure she would avoid him like the plague.

The night before their journey:

Bass walks along the back side of the barn. There was a small brook in the woods behind the structure, and he'd taken the rare opportunity to bathe in it. It seemed like it was the first time in weeks he'd been able to get clean. If he had to pick one thing from the old world that he missed the most, it would probably be showers. He was tired of feeling filthy all of the time. His hair is still dripping as he walks, shirt in hand. There is a chill in the air, but having spent so many years in Philly, the early fall air in Texas is nothing to him. He turns the corner at the end of the barn, and damn near walks right into Charlie.

"What are you doing out here?" As he speaks, he watches her look him up and down. She smiles her appreciation, making no effort to disguise that she's checking him out. Not speaking, she just continues to smile up at him. She's making him uncomfortable, so he goes to walk around her. She shifts, once more blocking his way. After two more attempts to get past her, he realizes that he can either pick her up and move her, or find out what she wants. And with the way she is looking at him, touching her in any way does not seem a viable option.

With a sigh, he leans as casually as possible against the side of the barn. "Need something?" He tries to sound nonchalant but in reality his heart is pounding in his chest.

She takes a step forward. "You could say that," and then she makes her move. She presses herself up against him and stands up on her toes, capturing his lips with her own. She is suddenly everywhere - grabbing, pulling, surrounding him. He lets her take the lead for a few minutes, but he knows he has to take control of this. If he doesn't, he could lose himself. Dropping his shirt, he cups her face with one hand, and spins her with the other. His lips never leave hers as he turns. The end result is that now it is Charlie's back pressed up against the barn. He is more comfortable in the lead now, but his traitorous body responds to her, and there is now hiding the fact that he wants her.

Charlie's intent becomes clear as she unwinds her arms from around his neck and reaches for the waistband of his pants. He can't believe was he's about to do, but he suddenly breaks off their kiss and grabs her hands, to stop her. Their foreheads are touching, as he draws in an unsteady breath. "Charlie, stop." She can tell he's hard for her, and will not be denied. She makes another attempt to reach for him, as she kisses him again. He grips her wrists more firmly now. "Wait a second. What are you doing?" He says against her lips.

"Come on, Monroe. You know you want this as much as I do. I've seen the way you watch me," she pants. She twists her wrists to free herself, desperate to touch him.

He shakes his head and takes a step back. Resisting her advances takes all of his willpower. "Not like this."

Charlie sober instantly. Her chest heaves as she stares at him, bewildered. "What? What do you mean?"

He looks at her longingly. "I'm not going to fuck you on the side of a barn like a whore." He doesn't expect to woo her with flowers and romance but he'll be damned if he treats her like the women that troll the alleys of New Vegas. Not her. She deserves better than that. And, he'd like to think despite everything, he deserves better than that.

She reacts like his words slap her. "Did you just call me a whore?"

Aw hell, he thinks to himself. He steps forward, and brushes a strand of hair off her face gently. "You know that I didn't, and that I don't think that. And I want you, but not like this."

She knows exactly what he's trying to say to her. But she doesn't want to hear it. She shakes his head at him. She can't bring herself to let it be more, mean something. There is too much between them. It would mean letting go of the past. Appealing to his lust one last time she looks at him with one eyebrow raised, "Well, what if this is the only way you can have me?"

It's his turn to feel slapped. He knows what she's doing, and it's cruel. It's an ultimatum, and they both know it. She's thrown down the gauntlet, and as much as he wants her, he refuses to pick that gauntlet up. "Then I guess I can't have you at all then."

Expressionless, she walks off. He knows she is seething. She probably feels rejected, embarrassed. He clenches his fists, fighting the urge to go after her. But he won't relent. As she rounds the next corner, he picks up his shirt, and then turns around, walking back the way he came. He runs into Miles on the way back to the brook.

"Where the hell are you going?" Miles asks. He can tell Bass is mad about something.

Frustrated, Bass snaps at him. "I'm going for a swim."

Miles notices Bass' wet hair and the shirt he's holding. "Didn't you already -?"

Bass cuts Miles off as he walks past. "Yes!"

"Bass that waters got to be like fifty degrees," Miles says to Bass' retreating back.

"I know!" He calls out behind him, as he heads back to take a post blackout version of a cold shower. That girl is going to be the death of him.

Back in New Vegas:

He shakes his head at the memory of that night, he was still able to feel her touch, and wills the feeling away. They've got too many problems for him to be distracted by her. He came with a hundred and fifty diamonds hoping to pay ten a head. He needs to come up with the balance somehow. It will take him a month of boxing to come up with that, if they took into account the cost of living for three people here. And that would be without losing a match. Miles was going to kill him if they stayed that long but he couldn't see a way around it. He'd talk to Gould in the morning. For now, he just wanted to catch up with Charlie and Connor and set up camp for the night. They'd find better accommodations tomorrow. In the meantime, he was hoping to pull Charlie aside. They needed to talk, fix things- especially if they were going to be stuck here for a while.

God he wished she hadn't come. This would have been so less complicated. He didn't realize how less complicated until he came up on them both. It seemed they'd already set up a camp of sorts. As he approached he could not believe how he found them. "Oh come on, you have got to be kidding me!" Bass saw red. He turned around, counted to ten and did his best to calm down. "Get dressed," He finally said.

Although it was lost on Connor, Charlie picked up a hint of the hurt in his voice. She tried to keep her voice level. She didn't want Connor to know that something had happened between her and his father. "Listen," she began, as she pulled on her pants.

He didn't want to hear it, especially in front of Connor. "Just get dressed," He said wearily as he walked away.

What have I done? She thought to herself as she watched him retreat. She glanced at Connor. He seemed completely unaware of the tension between his father and her. She was suddenly very grateful he had not inherited his father's uncanny skills at reading people.

What the fuck? He thought as he waited for Connor and Charlie to get dressed and join him. How could she do this? What the hell is the matter with her? Well, if she'd set out to hurt him, the win went to Charlie. She'd definitely succeeded. He concentrated on calming down as he came up with plan B. He was not going to spend the next several weeks getting pounded for the cause while she spent the next few weeks getting pounded by his son. He needed a way to get what they came for faster so they could hurry up and get back. He needed to get away from her. Shoving his hurt deep inside, he came up with what he saw as the only other alternative. If earning the diamonds was now out of the question, they'd just have to steal them.