Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed so far. I'm still overwhelmed at the response this story is receiving. Once again, I don't own Revolution, this is just for fun. Enjoy!
A knock at the door disturbed Charlie from her rest. When she looked out the window she realized just how dark it had gotten and figured it saw time to drain the tub and dry off. There were fluffy towels under the sink and she was so happy to have something nice for once. It was a shame they'd only be here for a short time, she could get used to this. She put on the clean clothes and gathered up her dirty ones, heading out back. Monroe was already back there to start filling up the water for his bath and she noticed he had already changed into clothes from the closet. She stayed out of his way as he came in and out periodically, with him staying outside when he wasn't filling the tub. She looked around the living room, trying to figure out more about the couple who had originally owned this house. She heard her name and turned around to see a shirtless Monroe with his dirty clothes in his arms.
After she grabbed the clothes from him, he added, "Thanks Charlie. There's another pot of hot water outside. Here," he handed her some soap from in the bathroom, "this way we won't smell so terrible the next few days." She nodded and head back out to scrub down the clothes with soap and hot water first, then dumping the dirty water and refilling it to rinse everything off. She looked around to find somewhere to hang it, but figured the bathroom shower would be the best spot. These were good clothes for traveling in and she didn't want them stolen if they were hanging outside. She knocked lightly on the bathroom door.
"The clothes are washed. When you're done, let me know and I can hang them in the shower so they can dry. Eep!" She jumped back as the door opened and he stepped out.
"I'm done now. Are you tired?"
"Why?" she asked, still not used to his concern. She figured it was better to constantly be suspicious, rather than get used to him.
"I found a deck of cards while you were taking a bath. If you're up for it, we can play some card games before bed."
"Sure. What games did you have in mind? I don't know very many," Charlie said, remembering some card games she had played back in Sylvania Estates, but a lot of them were more than two player games or children's games she didn't think he'd want to play. Monroe move to the coffee table in the living and motioned her to sit down on the other side.
"Two games come to mind, War and Spit, do you know either of those?"
"Like I really want to play War with you," she sneered.
"Do you even know how to play?"
"No."
"The main difference in the games is that War is a very slow game. Spit is much faster paced, but they're both long. Your choice."
"Let's go with Spit."
"Here, I'll shuffle then deal. We split the pile the in half. The object is to get rid of all of the cards. You deal out five stacks of cards in front of you. Stack 1 has 1 card, Stack 2 has 2 cards, et cetera. After you deal them out, flip just the top card of over. After we are both set up, then we each take one of the cards from our extra pile and flip it over. Using one hand at a time, you move the cards in front of you to the two piles in the front, going up or down one number. When you have put all of your cards out, you want to slap the lowest pile. Then you take the lowest pile and we go again until one of runs out of cards. It's confusing at first, but I'll go slow until you get the hang of it."
She was confused at first, but after a few rounds, they were both laughing as she snuck her hand under his to beat him to the lowest pile and win the round. She was surprised at how much fun she was having playing a simple card game with Monroe. It was nice to not have to worry for a few hours if she was going to die or where the attack was going to come from next. Monroe had already proved himself, he wasn't going to kill her, at least not yet. She might as well enjoy it before getting back into it and now going after the Patriots. Once again, her eyes started to droop, but not before Monroe managed to smack the last pile to win the game.
"Have fun?" He asked her as he put the cards back in their box.
"Yeah."
"Then don't forget the cards when we leave in the morning. Sleep well, I'll be on the couch. Keep your crossbow near you, we still don't know what's around in the area and where those bandits came from, if they were part of a larger group or not."
Charlie got up from her position and looked around the living room once more, as Monroe grabbed a blanket off the couch and made himself comfortable. She blew out the candles in the bathroom and moved the ones from the kitchen onto the coffee table, knowing that if they were attacked, at least having a little light would give them some advantage. Since it wasn't too cold, they had already put out the fire in the fireplace. She grabbed one of the larger candles and moved towards the bedroom, putting the candle on the dresser before easing herself into the large bed. It was definitely one of the nicer beds she had slept in, the nicest in several weeks, that's for sure.
It was why she was surprised in the morning when it was really bright out and she smelled some food cooking. She crawled out of bed, feel refreshed and seeing the candle had put itself out at some point during the night. Her crossbow was right where she left it and she headed out to the living room to find Monroe cooking what looked like something he had caught that morning. At least it was better than some canned food. Her stomach always preferred fresh game meat to canned vegetables. Then she remembered her manners.
"Good morning," she mumbled, trying not to be too happy to see him.
"Morning. I figured I'd let you sleep in while I make breakfast. Fresh caught rabbit today. I also found a little something else while you were sleeping," he said as he shook some bottles. She wasn't sure exactly what they were and it must have shown on her face, as he continued, "the previous owners had a whole stash of liquor. If we're going to see Miles, trust me, he will be able to stand being near me with some of this. His favorites that we haven't found in a while. No drinking for you until we get back though."
She thought maybe it was dig at her needing to be saved by him the last time she drank, but either way, she did need to be fully alert the next few days. Just two more days of traveling with Monroe and then he was no longer her problem. Miles may not be able to kill Monroe, but her mom was pretty unpredictable and who knew what state her mind was in currently. Then again, Monroe would probably make a good watchdog if he didn't get too crazy. She shook her head and realized she was going home. That's what mattered in the end was getting home.
With Monroe at the fireplace, she headed into the kitchen to grab plates and forks to have a civilized meal. Hopefully they'd be back in Willoughby in two days, as long as they didn't run into any bad weather or any more bandits. She set them out on the coffee table, adding an extra plate to put the cooked meat on and realized they didn't have any cups or any water. She found a pitcher and went outside to grab water. When she opened the door, she saw Monroe snap his head up, but she just waved the water pitcher and he just nodded. At least he wasn't trying to get her talk and just understood her need to be silent.
The sun was bright and she almost wished she could find a practical hat or sunglasses, but when she had looked around yesterday there only seemed to be frilly hats that wouldn't keep the sun out of her eyes. She could pretend to still be tired from the drugs and just keep her eyes closed. Maybe then he wouldn't talk to her, but at the same time she wanted to find out more about Miles. And if Monroe knew Miles well enough, he had to know more about her father and grandparents too. All she had to try and do was direct the conversation to that topic and avoid recent history. She did not want to know how Miles ended up founding the Republic or what happened to her mom while she was being held captive in Philly. No, she wanted to know what happened prior to the Blackout.
When she came back inside, she put the water pitcher on the table. He grabbed it, poured water in a pot, and put straight in the fireplace before pouring both of them a glass of water. She sat at the coffee table and started to pick at one of the rabbits, leaving the other one for him. She watched him closely, finding it odd he was putting strips of fabric in the pot of boiling water and then putting it aside as he started in on his rabbit.
Breakfast was mostly eaten in silence, but when he grabbed the fabric out of the pot and started to wrap it around his arm, that's when she noticed the circular burn mark on his forearm. He must have noticed her staring because he spoke up first.
"Did your uncle ever tell you where the symbol for the Republic came from?" He glanced at her arm, maybe hoping she'd open up and tell him about how she got the mark on her arm. She moved her arm to be under the coffee table so he couldn't see it anymore and answered with a resounding no.
"It was a symbol we came up with when we were kids. It stood for Monroe and Matheson and it was something we used to draw on our arms. When we grew up, it was one of those symbols of rebellion. We debated for years about getting them tattooed on our forearms in the same spot we used to draw them on. The two of us were always close growing up, we ruled the world together, or so we thought," Charlie scoffed at that, the two of them did end up ruling a nation for a while.
"As I was saying, it wasn't until my family died that we finally decided to go for it. He was the only family I had left, I'd do anything for him and he'd do the same for me. It took us a while to find the time and the right artist, but I managed to get mine done before the Blackout, several months before while we were stationed at Parris Island in South Carolina. It was the symbol plus Monroe below it. Obviously, the government knows about it, it was one of the things that identified me. After they nuked Philly, I knew they'd try and blame me somehow. I burned it off before I started fighting in New Vegas. One it's a dead giveaway for who I am and two, I felt I had to atone for my sins. I told you it was my job to protect those in Philly and they burned in their skins because of me. Now I'm just careful to not let it get infected."
She was quiet, not sure how to respond to Monroe's heartfelt confession. Knowing he was still a loose cannon, she didn't want to set him off the same way she did before when she accused him of crying at will to manipulate people. Plus his speech had raised some more questions of her own, like his family dying and Miles being all that he had left. Now the problem was, where to start? So she just took a deep breath and asked, "What did you mean about Miles being the only family you had left?"
"Two years before the Blackout, my parents and two younger sisters were on their way to see a Harry Potter movie when a drunk driver crossed the median and killed them in a car crash. In the blink of an eye, my whole family was dead and I was left alone in the world." Monroe hung his head low, not wanting to meet her eyes.
"I know about Harry Potter, no matter where we were, almost every house had a set of those books." She couldn't bring herself to say that she was sorry to hear about his loss, when it was his fault her father, brother and Maggie were dead and who knows how many countless other families were torn apart by the militia. She remembered those orphans living in the school near the conscription boat and just had to separate General Monroe from the Monroe who was sitting in front of her. That was the only way she'd be able to get through the next few days and possibly weeks with him hanging around.
"It was by far one of the most popular children's stories of the time and the movies were incredibly successful. It was why my family was even on the road that late, my parents had decided to treat my sisters and take them to the midnight movie showing so they would see it first." Charlie just nodded, even though she couldn't really understand the concept of midnight movie.
"Why was a midnight movie so special?"
"I sometimes forget how young you are. It was just the first time they would air the movie. Miles, being Miles, he can predict most of my thoughts. After the funeral, he found me almost through a bottle of whiskey in the cemetery with a gun and coaxed the gun out of my hands." These next few days were going to be very interesting if he was revealing these sorts of details right away to get her trust him. Miles managed to talk Monroe out of suicide? No wonder Monroe clung to Miles for so long and why in the end Miles could never pull the trigger. They really were brothers through thick and thin.
"I think that's enough. We really need to get on the road. Grab up any other supplies from the house you think might be useful to you, even after we get where we're going." Charlie darted off to the bathroom, she wasn't sure what the scent of the shampoo was but she enjoyed it.