Given a choice, and she rarely was these days, Nora wouldn't have been standing outside Miles' door tonight. But it was the safest place to go, in more ways than one. So she knocked on the door and waited. She didn't like it for a single second.

Miles scowled when he saw her. "So help me, if the next words out of your mouth are 'I ran into a door' I will be the one back handing you."

"Actually it was going to be 'can I sleep here'?" she replied.

"Once you tell me about the bruise on your cheek."

"It's no big deal. Bass got a little rowdy when I was putting him to bed."

Miles rolled his eyes. "No big deal," he repeated. "You really think I'm that stupid, don't you Nora?"

"Don't be over dramatic," Nora snapped without much heat.

"Nora, this is the third time this week. Not month, week. I'm pretty sure it counts as a big deal at this point."

"You know what? Screw this. I'm going to sleep at Jeremy's."

Miles grabbed her arm as she turned away. "The hell you will," he snapped. "People are already talking more than they should. Get your ass in here before someone sees."

Nora followed him in and sat on the couch while Miles when to get her ice. She understood his anger. In Miles Matheson's mind there were exactly two sins you could commit. Only two. Rape and abuse. Anything else, including murder, could be explained away. Nora had seen him do it more than once. They didn't talk about the early days of the Militia for a lot of reasons.

But if he ever caught you hurting those weaker than yourself…god protect you from the fury of that Marine. There was no corner you could hide in where he couldn't hunt you down for vengeance. And that vengeance would be sure to fit the crime. Nora hoped she could spare Bass that pain.

Miles came back with a towel full of ice for her cheek. "Come on Twig," he said using her old nickname. "Tell me what's really going on in that house."

"It's not bad," Nora insisted. "I'll learn how to duck better, that's all."

"Nora, these days you don't even have makeup to hide behind. Anyone with eyes can see you're lying. And I'm not just anyone."

Nora pursed her lips. "Bass is just grieveing."

"So am I but I haven't hit anyone."

It was true. Between the two of them, Miles was becoming much steadier than Bass. And people were beginning to notice. "Look, tomorrow I'll pour out all the liquor. Or hide it somewhere. He won't hit me if he's not drunk."

"You want to bet on that?" Miles countered.

"He's not a bad person."

"I never said he was."

"You just called him an abuser."

"Because he is. For god sakes, Nora, have you looked in a mirror lately?" Miles sighed as he slumped in his chair. "Look, I love Bass as much as you do. But he clearly has a problem. And it's getting a lot harder to keep it quiet."

Nora looked down in guilt. Miles wanted the same thing as her. To help Bass. They needed to be allies rather than enemies. "You want the truth?"

"It'd be nice."

"The truth is I don't know who that man sleep in my house is but he is not my husband. He's not the man I married in a rundown church with a handful of militia as witnesses. And I don't' know how to get that man back."

"You and me both," Miles agreed.

"So what do we do?"

"Hell if I know." Miles rubbed his face tiredly. "We need to do something and fast. The sooner we put a lid on this, the better. There are too many people saying too many things. Bass needs to be stable if we're all going to survive."

"Tomorrow," Nora decided. "We'll talk to him together. Alone. There's nothing weird about that. We do it all the time."

Miles decided not to point out that the three of them hadn't spoken alone since Lilly died. "You really think talking to him will help when he's in this deep?"

"If we go to him together," Nora nodded. "He knows us, Miles. He knows we both want what's best for him. If we go together, Bass will listen."

Miels considered her point. They had no other play at this point that kept Bass safe. "You realize this is only the first step in a very long road, right?"

Nora smiled as much as she could with the bruise on her cheek. "I married him, remember? I know what we have to do."

"Tomorrow then," Miles agreed. "It's too late to do anything tonight anyway.

"Is it alright if I stay in a guest room?"

"Pick your favorite," Miles gestured.

"Thanks." Nora handed him back the ice and got up. She paused to rest a hand on his shoulder. "You're a good friend, Miles. Don't ever doubt that."

Miles just grunted in reply.