I do not own Revolution. This story is just for fun, enjoy.

After Charlie woke the first time and told Monroe to go to hell, she had laid back down and fell asleep without thinking of the consequences of being unguarded in front of Monroe, who she had sworn to get revenge against. Yet, he had saved her twice now. Once in the Tower with her mother right behind him and then again at that bar. She probably would have been fine in the Tower, but in that bar? If it wasn't for Monroe, she would have died without seeing her mom or Miles again. Could she trust him? Obviously he cared for her safety that he had taken her far from the bar and kept watch over her, along with the fact that his first concern was with flushing the drugs out of her system and then finding Miles.

The second time she woke up it was daylight and the rain had stopped, but Monroe was nowhere to be seen. She got up slowly and saw the canteen next to her and drank the water, knowing she still needed to flush the drugs out. She couldn't believe how stupid she had been and knew if Miles found out the circumstances, she'd never hear the end of it. She should have known something was up when there was no one else coming in or out after she entered and that she was the only girl in the place. At first, she thought she was only dreaming when she saw Monroe come in, but he was never who she pictured to save her. He could track her and even if she left now while he was gone, he'd still come after her. She figured two heads would be better than one and if she wasn't going to be able to lose him, better take advantage of him.

She heard the crunching of leaves behind her and turned around, looking for the knife or something that could be used as a weapon, not sure if it was Monroe returning or not. Whipping her head ahead, she breathed a sigh of relief when she found it was just Monroe. When he saw that she was sitting up, he handed her another canteen filled with more water. She accepted the water and nodded, keeping quiet with her head down, not wanting to look him in the eye. She knew she said some really cruel things to him last night after he had saved her life, but there was no need for an apology, he didn't deserve it, not for all that he had done to her family.

While she was drinking the water, he started to pack up and put everything back in the truck that the bounty hunters had been using like an old stagecoach. Charlie remained seated, though she gazed inside the truck while he had the doors open to scope up what weapons had been left and how much food was left. They had a few days of traveling to get back to Willoughby. She wasn't looking forward to the silent days with Monroe because she didn't even know what she would talk about. Miles was always quiet and rarely talked about his past, it was usually her other travel companions that kept her from getting bored and lonely.

"Charlotte? Feeling up to traveling today?" Monroe said. Charlie scrunched her face up, not sure how to take it that of all the people in the world, it was currently Sebastian Monroe who was concerned for her.

"The sooner we leave, the sooner we can get to Miles and my mom," Charlie added, not looking up to meet his eyes, no way was she falling for that again.

"Good, let's get this show on the road." Monroe started to get the horses tied to the makeshift wagon as Charlie got up slowly, making sure that she wouldn't fall asleep as quickly as she did the last time she woke up. As she walked around to the front, Monroe was there to help her up. She tried to push him off but in her currently weakened state, Monroe easily overpowered her. He hoisted her up before walking around to his side and grabbing the reins. When Monroe turned to ask her which direction to head in, Charlie just pointed and leaned back, closing her eyes to signal she did not want to talk. He got the hint at first and sighed a bit. She peered her eyes open after he sighed again, where he opened his mouth to say something, thought about it and just sighed again.

After the fifth time of this, she finally sat up and asked, "What? Do you have something to say?"

He turned to look at her, slowed the horses down a bit, and took a deep breath. "Charlie, I have no idea how long this journey of ours is going to take. I don't know where we're going but I do know it is going to be a long trip if we don't talk."

"What could we possibly have to talk about?" Charlie crossed her arms, not wanting to be friends with Monroe in the slightest. Yes, he was caring for her and made sure she was alive, but that did not make them buddies at all. Then again, he was still very capable of killing her, as he reminded her last night.

"I know Miles. And I know he never talks about himself. Rarely talks in general. Which means you don't know much about Miles as a child. I figured I'd share some stories about us as kids." Charlie's eyes lit up as Monroe told her this. She only remembered bits and pieces of her childhood pre-Blackout and her dad never really talked much about his family. If Monroe knew Miles then, that means he'd also know more about her mom and dad too. And Monroe was right. It was going to be a few days of traveling and the silence would drive her stir crazy. It was obvious Monroe wasn't going to give her weapon and let her at least be a lookout. She'd take what little joy she could and just nodded for Monroe to continue.

"Miles and I have known each other forever. Met the first day of kindergarten. School was different pre-Blackout everywhere. It was organized by age level and kindergarten was the first year of school. The way our classroom was set up, there were different sections and we would rotate around during play time, with desks being set up in the middle. There was a corner filled with books, a mini kitchen set up, art supplies, and my favorite-wooden blocks. It was just luck that Miles and I were both assigned the same play station that first day," Monroe said, pausing just to take a breath.

"I've learned nothing is luck. Everything happens for a reason," Charlie quipped back. Monroe turned and glared at Charlie and she wished she could take those words back and just let him finish the story.

"Well do you want to hear this or not?"

"How do you even remember this, weren't you five?" Charlie asked. She didn't remember much pre-Blackout and she was five when it happened. How could he remember this so clearly?

"First, my mom used to tell us this story over and over again so I could never forget it. Secondly, let me finish this story and it'll show you just why Miles and I are the way we are."

"Go ahead, nothing better to do here."

"I loved building castles and Miles wanted to do the same thing. The other kids in our station, I don't even know what they did but Miles and I had all of the blocks except one on both of our castles. We both reached for the last block and fought over. Miles, ever the smarter one, knew if he let go, I'd fall straight back into my castle and destroy all my hard work."

"How do you know he did it purposely?" Charlie asked, not sure how a five year old could be that evil. Then again, it had been a while since she had been around children. She usually avoided the ones in the village to keep all of her focus on Danny and survival.

"No one smirks like that afterwards if it was an accident. Sneaky bastard." She laughed at this. Charlie saw Monroe smile at the memory and wondered what other tricks Miles had played on Monroe over the years and what Monroe had done to get back at Miles.

"Right, so there I was on the ground with all my hard work destroyed and I pulled one of the blocks from my fallen castle and threw it at his castle to knock it down. Which then led to him throwing blocks at me and me retaliating. And then we were both punished for fighting in school and had to spend the rest of playtime sitting in opposite corners. My mom was not happy with the phone call she received before I even got off the bus that day. I got such a lecture at home but when Miles and I went to school the next day, we ended up playing on the playground together and we were inseparable for years. But that's the story of how I met Miles."

Monroe settled back, as though he was waiting for Charlie to either have a story of her own or even to just comment on his. She didn't know what to say. Obviously he did not appreciate her sarcasm and when she snapped back at him. She knew his patience was very limited and did not want to push those buttons. She didn't know how much he had changed since the Tower, if he had changed at all. Trying to figure Monroe out was like trying to figure her mom out. There were too many lies and hidden truths to ever figure out exactly what their motivations were. After five minutes, she took a deep breath and said, "I can't imagine you and Miles at five years old."

"In what way?" Monroe asked. She saw the confusion on his face and was trying to figure out how to word it without setting him off.

"I don't remember much of Miles, only what I've known the past year. And you, well you're General Sebastian Monroe and I can't picture you as an innocent five year old caught in the crossfire of the evil Miles."

"If they hadn't bombed Philly, you would still be able to."

Now it was Charlie's turn to be confused. She furrowed her brows and glared at Monroe, about ready to demand an explanation, when he started to speak.

"Miles probably figured I had it all burned when he left, but they meant just as much to him as they did to me. You guys were my family too."

"What do you mean, burned it all? What meant so much to you?" Charlie asked, fearing that he'd give her only half of the story, like Miles and her mom always did. It frustrated her to no end. She was old enough to trek around the former US, why couldn't they just tell her? Why did she always have to find out from everyone else?

"After the Blackout, Miles and I set out to find your dad because right before it happened, he called Miles to tell him it would turn off. In fact, their phone call was interrupted, so it's not like your dad knew ahead of time. We were at base in South Carolina and Miles decide after no word from the government, he was going to Chicago and I was going with him. Months later, we made it to your house, but you guys had already abandoned it. Miles boxed a few things up, kept them hidden in the basement, and after we had started the militia, ordered the boxes brought to Philly."

"What were in those boxes?"

"Family pictures, mementos that would mean something to you. My family died in a car crash two years before the Blackout and with Miles and I being Marines, we didn't keep much with us, so I stored a lot of stuff at your house. When we settled in Philly, we wanted our families to be there too. At this point, Miles hadn't found your family yet and the pictures were all we had, besides each other. I think there were some still left in your old house and who knows what got left behind in Jasper." He trailed off, thinking of the last time he was in Jasper and how that did not end well at all.

"Oh right, your hometown, because you left me with such fond memories of that place."

"You were there? But I had told Miles to come alone."

"He did. We found out later where he went and good thing we did. Nora and Jim were the ones who let everyone out of the church you set on fire. I was behind the planters. The whole night was pretty chaotic, I'm not surprised you don't remember seeing me."

"That night is one of those nights I wish I could take back."

"You paused when you started to countdown. Miles mentioned later she was his ex-fiancée and that you all grew up together. What did she tell you that made you stop?"

"She and I had a son. She said she wanted to see him one last time. I told her to get Miles to come out and that's when she told me that she wanted to see her son. Our son. I never knew."

Monroe stopped for a second and Charlie looked away, not wanting to cause trouble and call him out for crying on cue to manipulate her. She wanted to give him his space, but at the same she had so many more questions to be answered. The timeline of events, when was Miles engaged to her? How did they break up and what role did Monroe play in it that he didn't even know she was pregnant? The revelation that Monroe has a son could be the one explanation for why he was being so protective of her all of a sudden, maybe he's trying to make up for all the harm he caused other families? She shook her head, reminding herself that it wasn't the best idea to try and get into Monroe's head. It'd probably only make her head hurt.

Deciding answers were better than having questions hanging over them for the next few days, she started slowly. "Miles had said he was engaged to her once and that you guys all went to high school together. He clammed up pretty fast, but that's it."

"I'll tell you a little more, but answer me this. Who shot her?" Charlie didn't like the tone in Monroe's voice, it was as though she was back in Philly and he was threatening her again. She quickly told him, but apparently it had come out too garbled because he had asked her to repeat herself.

"Captain Dixon. Of the Georgia Federation."

"On whose orders?" Monroe asked, with an intensity in his voice that Charlie had not heard from him.

"No one's orders. Miles said if anyone took the shot, he'd kill them himself. As soon as Emma hit the ground, Miles turned around and shot Captain Dixon."

"Good."

"Now tell me, what happened that led to Miles being engaged to her and you having a child with her?"

"Remember, our world was very different from your own. Miles dealt with it in his own way by drinking his way through senior year of high school." Charlie snorted at that, recalling the night she met Miles at The Grand in Chicago and his drinking throughout the past year. Monroe smirked, probably thinking of his own memories. "As I was saying, Miles was not a school student and wasn't bound for college. Him and Emma were high school sweethearts and he had proposed, she said yes on the condition that they wait until she graduated because she had been given a full ride."

"A full ride? What does that mean?" Why did all the adults always think she knew the slang pre-Blackout? She was smart, but sometimes she felt like an idiot when they'd refer to random things, how could a full ride relate to college?

"A full ride meant she had scholarships covering the cost of tuition and room and board for university. Basically it was a pretty big deal and Miles was fine with it. His plans were to originally stick around Jasper, take up a trade, technical school, but get a job. Well, then he decided to enlist in the Marines without telling Emma. She was not happy about that, but hey, that was Miles."

"That's a big life decision to make without telling your future wife."

"Like I said, that's Miles. Well a few days later, we were all out partying at Split Rock, a place out in the woods where all the teenagers partied back then. Someone must have snitched and everyone raced off. Emma was about to get caught driving drunk so I took the fall for her and switched when the car crashed. Miles was in the backseat passed out because he had started earlier. I ended up losing my scholarship to school and following Miles into Marines. One of the nights, we were at Emma's house when her parents were out of town. As always Miles had started early, drank too fast and passed out on the couch. Emma and I were used to this, covered him with blanket and ending up drinking a few ourselves."

"Why was Miles always drinking?"

"It's probably better for you to ask him that. I'm telling you more than he would as it is. So a few drinks in, Emma and I get to talking and sort of acted on it."

"Wait, what? So you slept with your best friend's fiancée and that led to you having a son with her? No wonder you and Miles have such a terrible friendship and he wanted to kill you. He's wanted to do it since day one."

"Back up Charlotte. It was one time, Emma and I had been drinking," Monroe started but Charlie put her hands up.

"Your best friend is passed out on the couch and you are trying to tell me that drinking led to you sleeping with his fiancée? Still doesn't work with me."

"It was one time. We left for basic training a few weeks later and when we came home, Emma had moved off to school and pretty much never came home. While we were in basic, she sent Miles the engagement ring and told him it was over. I think that's when he really started developing a tolerance for drinking because a handle of whiskey later and he was still bawling his eyes out."

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a shitty friend?"

"Not quite that way, but yes."

"Does Miles know about you and Emma?"

"No. Your mom knows I have a son, but that's it. I had my men look for him all over the Republic, but either they are hiding him or he's not there."

"Well when you finally decide to tell Miles, make sure I'm not around. I don't want any part of that fallout," Charlie said, yawning at the end. She hadn't realized that she wasn't fully recovered and hoped Monroe wouldn't notice. Of course, she couldn't be so lucky.