Ride, ride my see saw…
A Revolution fic: Charloe, Sebastian (Bass) Monroe/Charlotte (Charlie) Matheson; Mention of characters from the show including, Ely Gould, the Bookie, Miles, Rachael and Danny Matheson, Aaron Pittman, the Patriots, Tom and Jason Neville, Will Strausser, the Bounty Hunters (Adam)… The story is based on a prompt from the Good Ship Charloe writer's page – where Bass sees Charlie with the Bookie in Gould's fight tent in New Vegas and knows she's the one asking for him…
Rating M
Author's note:
Hi there and thanks so much for having a look at this… and for some lovely reviews, follows and favourites… Please leave a comment if you have a moment, I love reading them… this story wouldn't let me go so I hope you enjoy this bit…
I don't own any part of Revolution and am writing this purely for love of the show and its characters. There are some lines adapted from the relevant episodes of the show (some in different order and context though…). BTW the start of this is of course the end of the last chapter – only from Bass' POV – there were some extra's that I needed to add to it… and it was fun telling it again anyway…
Ride, ride my see-saw… Part 4.
It was how he felt after winning a hard fight, or after a battle; his body's reaction to the stress and then the relief… a combination of exhilaration and adrenaline pounding round his system that needed somewhere to go and so, after Charlie so nicely invited him to help undo her buttons… Bass quickly threw a gag together, shoved it in Adam's mouth, tied it off around the jerk's head – taking a moment to make sure that he was still breathing, did a quick visual check round the area, seeing nothing and no one; then scooting over to make sure that the Beard was still dead, yep… all of which took him less than a minute… he grinned... strike one up for practice and experience – and two for motivation… Then he followed Charlie (well he ran…Monroe be honest…) to that old shower block - experiencing a weird little tug on his memory when he saw the 'ladies' symbol – still there - stencilled on the outside of the airlock entrance… But then forgetting everything else when he got inside and saw Charlie in that tiny black dress, barefoot…her back to him, then when she heard him coming and she started to turn towards him, her strong, shapely legs gracefully twisting, one arm raised and her hair swinging… he had a flashback to her little burlesque show of putting the dress on for him that sent a surge southwards…and now she wanted him to help her take it off…
He was so turned on that his dick felt like it could run over to her on its own… She was facing him just as he got to her and he put his hands either side of her slim waist, hoisting her up… He needed to get inside her right fucking now and by the look on her face she was just as desperate… She jumped to meet him wrapping those gorgeous legs around his waist, her arms fitting around his neck like they belonged there… He found himself laughing triumphantly against her lips as he kissed her, she felt so damn good… He slid his hands down along her thighs to the hem of the tiny dress, pulling it up to her waist, drawing a sharp breath in when he found her bare under it, God, she'd been running around in this little dress and nothing else… He felt himself get even harder…. He ran his fingers over the smooth skin and ripe curves and gripped her ass cheeks, pulling her closer to his impatient cock… 'I love your ass...' he whispered against her mouth… 'I loved watching you bend over to pick up this silly little dress…' he swung her round so that her back was against the wall, she held on to him tighter… 'Maybe we can take it with us so you can do it again…' she panted out his name and met his eyes… and he saw his relief at having somehow won - yet again… and his elation at still being so fucking alive (and that she hadn't said no to the 'us'…) reflected right back to him…'Your eyes are so blue' she said, wriggling her beautiful self against him… he laughed again…'so I've been told…' He ran his hand down the front of her, his fingers brushing against her pussy and clit on the way down… He could tell she was as close as he was by the way she moaned as his hand went down, his eyes followed the hand and there she was – legs spread wide around him and her beautiful pussy spread open against his wrist…
He frantically searched for and found the buttons of his pants – loving the feel of her soft, wet warmth rubbing against the flesh of his arm at the same time… feeling just how ready she was for him – then he was undoing the buttons, finally letting his desperate dick out of jail, then juggling her up further against the wall so he could reach into her, guiding himself home – yanking his hand out to be useful holding her up so he could stay in her without them both falling over… although her hands were everywhere too, on his shoulders, clinging to his arms, then around his neck doing the same thing, so between them they somehow managed to find their balance against the wall…. And then it was a fast and furious fuck that had both of them gasping in a timeless stretch of not being dead but so wonderfully still… able… to… do… this… He remembered only just in time that he needed to pull out…just before everything went sun storm and incandescent… then he slid them both down the wall onto the bench… and as he sat there holding her close, getting his breath and his vision back, feeling her panting and warm and delicious in his arms, her legs draped over him… her head pillowed on his shoulder… he thought that it had possibly been the most intense fuck of his life…
They stayed like that for a little while… just savouring the moment…then 'We've got a wagon and horses, we've got supplies…' he said grinning… 'And we've got weapons…' Charlie broke in… 'And we've got Adam…' she sat up a on his lap and leaned to the side… 'Undo these buttons for me?' he had a look at her back… whoa… Whoever made the dress had obviously gotten hold of a shit load of tiny buttons and had decided to use them all on this one dress… No wonder he'd had time to take care of the beard if Adam had had to do these up… She play glared up at him…'Anytime now would be good Monroe…' He put his tile lacerated fingers to the task…good job the dress was black…
….
What seemed like a few short moments after he had disposed of the damn buttons – somehow without ripping any of them off - and fixed his own pants up, Charlotte Matheson had collected her real clothes and was all dressed up as herself again. As he watched her doing up her jeans Bass was slightly regretful at the loss of nearly naked Charlie, but he had to admit that this Charlie, in her tank top and tight jeans, unarmed (presumably) but still dangerous and wonderfully unpredictable, pushed every single one of his buttons… She was the most exciting thing to happen to him in quite a while… and he grinned at the thought, deciding not to dwell at the moment on what could happen in the future (Miles and Rachael would definitely not approve…so just enjoy the now Monroe)… But she was ready for business and they needed to get going… they were far too damn close to New Vegas for his liking… He didn't know if the bounty hunters - or the Bookie (now there was a play for another day, the little guy owed him big time) had told anyone that they had Sebastian Monroe in storage… although somehow he didn't think so, there would be a whole lot more activity around if they had… he really didn't think the Patriots would want to pay if they could take the prize themselves, which was probably why the BH's had left town so fast once they had him…
Charlie did up the last button on her jeans and gave him a long look… 'Hey… Monroe… Thanks for not leaving…' she chewed at her lip…'I… I said some pretty awful things to you back there in the pool… I…wouldn't have blamed you if you'd just kept on going…' Bass frowned… that actually hurt more than what she had said…that she thought he could just leave her…
'Charlotte…' he shook his head… 'There is no way I'd have left any woman with those creeps if I knew she didn't want to be there and that she couldn't get out on her own – and absolutely no way I'd leave you…' her gaze dropped then lifted to meet his again…then, 'Even after I tried to kill you – like, a lot…?' he shrugged… 'Can't say that I blame you for that…I might have tried to kill me too if I were you…but as me and my sorry ass are still alive at least I can do something useful with them…' He walked over to her… and if he checked her over for anything looking like a throwing star before he got too close, who could really blame him… He chuckled… 'And having said that…do I need to search you again…?' Her wicked grin blazed up at him… damn he kept forgetting how small she was… because somehow she never seemed small… Then she reached into one of the pockets in her jeans…pulling out a length of garrotte wire… and if she had one he had absolutely no doubt there were at least a couple more hidden in other places…
He nodded approvingly…'The old garrotte wire in the seam trick… did Miles teach you that one…?' her grin got even wider…'That and a few others…'the grin turned into a full on come fuck me smile…'you could search me properly later if you want…' she said, the smile and her voice promising so much that his dick came back to immediate and hopeful attention… he licked his lips and narrowed his eyes, looking her up and down… 'Oh yeah… but it'll have to be a very, very thorough search, Charlotte…a woman like you… You could be hiding lots of things…in all sorts of places…' He leaned forward towards her…making sure he found and held the hand with the wire in it first… 'So believe me, I'll be looking absolutely everywhere…' he whispered against her lips… Her breath hitched and she reached up with her free hand to pull his head down closer to her… lifting a leg and hooking it around his, so that her hot crotch was pressed up against him…'You'll need to look really, really hard… Monroe… I've got all sorts of tricks up my…sleeve…' she whispered back… her eyes dancing…then she kissed him until they were both breathless… and when they eventually came up for air he pulled back, laughing in honest appreciation… 'You are a woman after my own heart Charlie…' he let go…sighing with regret….'we'd better get going….' 'We should go while there's light… they said almost in unison… it was uncanny really, how much they seemed to think alike sometimes…
He put her down and she nodded 'Lets go…' grabbing one of the half empty buckets, the towel and the soap, then she picked up the dress and rolled it up, putting it with the towel...throwing him another one of her wicked grins… he sent an echo right back… The little black dress was now hers (and maybe theirs?), not her would-be rapists… Bass picked up the other bucket; the water remaining in it sloshing around… he had a really good use for that…
….
As they walked over to where Adam was lying trussed up like a rabbit ready for roasting… Charlie felt much more like herself, she was back in her own clothes and she was able to put just a little distance between herself and what had nearly happened with Gregor the bearded, one eyed bounty hunter (she'd forgotten about the eye patch till just then… funny what the mind remembered and what it left out…), instead she was thinking about what had happened between her and Monroe… which had been easily the most exciting sex she had ever had… She was still buzzing, her centre wet and hot, her breasts tingling, her lips still feeling his… and she remembered how it had felt, back in that tatty old toilet block, waiting for him…knowing that he was coming and knowing what she wanted him to do with her; it was a feeling she wouldn't forget easily… and yet another aftershock ran from her clit to her belly button then up to her nipples… making her pulse race and another flood of arousal soak her jeans… She couldn't wait until they could do it again… and the idea of him searching her for hidden weapons… well that nearly made her come just thinking about it…
Being with Sebastian Monroe was like nothing she had ever experienced before…he made her feel like she had fire in her veins, everything was so much more vivid… it was both exhilarating and a bit terrifying… From first seeing him in the fight tent, like a mythical creature…something from one of Aaron's stories, then when he had her helpless on the ground outside the tent – and then in his trailer; and even after she tried to kill him (twice or was it three times?) he had been so different than she'd expected, playing the game but never trying to hurt her back, even telling her to go back to her family…and at the same time he was so damn fucking hot and so absolutely male… Then when they were both tied up in the pool she had seen some of the despair and sadness in him – somehow she hadn't expected to see that…and hadn't expected her need to drag him out of it by deliberately making him angry - with her… or that after all that… he would stay and help her, when he could have just gone…
Her mission, the only thing she had thought about for weeks, after Jeff told her where he had seen Monroe, had been to find him and kill him… But now, it was different…somehow him being dead would be like taking something vital from her world, from her… But she had to work out what to do with him… he wanted them to travel together and damn it she wanted that more than she'd wanted anything for such a long time… But she had to warn her Mom and that meant going to Willoughby…
She looked sideways at the man walking beside her – they were both bruised and battered, both sore, but also were both walking with the confidence of those who'd fought together and won… who had found some sort of common purpose? She wondered where the need to kill him had gone… subsumed maybe into this intense physical attraction and an almost irresistible need to have him again… and she liked him damn it…He was fun and sexy and strong, strong like her… he kept fighting, and he hadn't left her… Why couldn't he and she just travel together… somewhere, anywhere, so long as it wasn't Willoughby. She supposed she had to warn her family about her Mom's name on the posters… but there had to be another way… surely the rumours of the Patriots had reached them by now? Damn, damn, damn… taking Monroe to Willoughby meant taking him to Miles – who had tried to kill him in Philadelphia and who still might try it again and to her Mom, who had also tried to kill him according to Aaron - before the gates of the Tower… Her mom had taken a hand grenade down to Monroe's tent and would have killed him and herself as well… She didn't know how Aaron felt now, but the last he knew about it, Monroe had been the enemy…
…..
Adam was still unconscious and lying right near the edge of the pool, where Bass had put him… Charlie tossed the remains of the water in one of the buckets over his head…and Bass poured the contents of the second bucket over the rest of him moments later… he jerked and gargled…gulping air around the gag, opened his eyes, blinking to get rid of the water and struggled briefly, then lay very still once he realised how close he was to the edge of the pool… Eyes wide and shocked, he looked from one of them to the other quickly, then again more slowly, Charlie could see realisation dawning in his eyes and her lips curved… 'Hi Adam…' she drawled… 'How are you feeling…?' he looked away from her then up at Bass…'mmffe…' Bass reached down and undid the gag – leaving the ropes where they were for the time being… Adam spat out a mouthful of accumulated bad tasting crap… 'You two seem to be getting on better than I expected…?' his voice was hoarse… he looked up at Charlie… 'What happened to all the stuff about just 'put a bullet in his head'...' Charlie shrugged… 'I changed my mind, he's much prettier than Gregor - or you… I didn't want to spoil his good looks…' Adam turned his gaze to Bass 'I'd heard about you and women, Monroe…but man…that's fast…' Bass smirked down at him and shrugged…'Can't blame a man for being irresistible…' then he lifted the gun he'd retrieved from where he'd hid it…pointing it right at Adam's head…
Charlie rolled her eyes at him, went over to the table and picked up the pile of Wanted posters…holding where the bound man could see them… 'What are you doing with all these?' Adam shrugged, as well as he could, tied up and horizontal…'they're bounties, we…I hunt them… It's sort of all in the job title…' Charlie took out the one with her Mom's name on it… 'What do your employers want with this one…?' he looked and shrugged again, 'What's so special about that one…?' Monroe chipped in 'Answer the question…' the business end of the gun moved a bit closer… and Adam's face got a little paler and he watched the end of the shotgun like it was a snake… 'All I know is…these US guys came up from Cuba and they pay well – six ounces of diamonds per head…' his voice became stronger at the mention of the diamonds… 'There're probably fifty other bounty hunters with the same posters…' he lay back down again…'that's all I know…'
Monroe cocked the gun and aimed…Charlie grabbed the end of the barrel, turning it away…'We're not going to kill him…' Monroe raised his eyebrows…. 'Excuse me…?' She looked him in the eye… not backing down, 'I don't like killing…' she glanced down at Adam…' not unless I have to… 'She turned back to Monroe who had a slightly bemused look on his face… He didn't quite know how it had happened but she had somehow taken charge of the situation, and shit, here he was taking orders from a slip of a girl after running a republic - although granted that hadn't worked out so well and this wasn't just any girl…so… 'We'll gag him again, get the wagon ready and dump him further down the road somewhere…' Charlie continued… Adam did the eye roll this time and Monroe looked down at him with a very small shrug, receiving back a slightly unnerving look of male commiseration… he took a long breath… 'I guess I'll go and get the horses and the wagon organised then… unless there's something else you don't want me to do first…?' she lifted an eyebrow… gave him a sweet smile and walked the couple of steps past him to put the gag back on Adam, bumping into Monroe – hard - with her shoulder as she did… and damn it Adam the prick had the nerve to wink at him…
Not shooting Adam did mean that he'd have to wait to talk to Charlie about going with her to warn Miles and her Mom, because he didn't want fucking still alive Adam to hear anything about that… so… he put the gun down like a good little ex-dictator, and went to retrieve the horses…
…..
The horses were hitched up, they had found Charlie's chain belt, bag and weapons and Bass' swords and knives in the back of the wagon… Bass would have liked the chance to collect the rest of his things from his trailer but it was way too risky to go back there now… Bookie had obviously known what was going to happen, and he didn't know if he'd brought Gould in on it too or if the little man had acted off his own greedy bat… Anyway, they were ready to go… Adam had been levered in the back of the wagon – still trussed up… Charlie had considered (briefly) letting him have a piss first but then changed her mind, although she did tell him she might come back to let him out later… the look on his face… that little bit of revenge had been sort of fun and she smiled as she climbed up beside Monroe… who had decided he was driving, not that she minded, her shoulder was still sore as hell and her assorted other bumps and bruises were making themselves felt again too now that the adrenalin had worn off… she shrugged and reached into her bag for her jerky – absently handing a piece over to Monroe…who just as absently took it and started chewing...
They'd been travelling for a few miles when they came to a fork in the road – another intersection was visible up ahead on both and Adam would definitely have trouble working out where they'd gone with the road as hard as it was and not showing many tracks… well … he would when he woke up of course…Monroe was about to give the guy another wack with the butt of the rifle when the bounty hunter spoke up again… 'You know they won't stop coming don't you…?' he looked from one to the other…'It doesn't matter that you stopped us…' Charlie frowned… Monroe had had enough… he really would have preferred to shoot the guy but when he looked at Charlie she still shook her head, damn it… He sighed and looked - sort of sympathetically - down at the man in the dirt, who obviously knew what was coming… Monroe made it quick, hard and effective, Adam'd have one hell of a headache when he woke up and probably wouldn't be able to walk straight for a while - but he would still be alive…thanks to Charlie, hell Bass even untied his hands…
Then he stood up and turned to Charlie…'He's right…' she turned an unreadable look on him…'about what…?' Bass jerked his head back towards Vegas… 'They won't stop coming… and you know you have to warn your Mom…' he leaned down so he could look straight into her eyes…'and If I know Miles he's with Rachael…?' she gave him a small nod… 'So, I'm coming with you…' Her head shot up…'Excuse me…? No you're not…' Bass got a little closer…'Charlie, like I said before… if these Patriots are half as bad as Randall, we're all in trouble and you and your family are going to need my help…' Charlie just stood there… 'But what if they don't want your help….' He shrugged; well okay, she might have a point… he got closer… his blue eyes mesmerizingly intense…'They might not want it but they're going to need it…' Charlie was so torn… she didn't want to go back but she had to – and if she took Monroe… both Miles and her Mom would probably just want to kill him… again… She was so fucking tired of her family's complicated politics… She wished they'd all just – just grow up… and for a moment she considered just telling Monroe where they were so he could go and they could all sort their stupid selves out without her…
She made up her mind… it was better to leave him here, now, and go and tell her dysfunctional family herself about the fucking dysfunctional Patriots…then maybe somewhere down the road they'd meet up again, and things might be different... So she got right up in his face… staring right into those amazingly gorgeous eyes…hating herself for saying it but having to…'You're delusional again Monroe… Miles and Mom will only want to kill you and it'll all be so…stupid…I'm not taking you there and I'm not going to tell you where they are either…' She turned on her heel and started walking down the road, so rattled that she went forgetting her pack, forgetting her bow…'I'm leaving… and when I'm gone you won't be able to track me…' He shook his head… damn pig headed woman…of course he'd be able to track her…what did she think he was, a boy scout? She kept on walking away and that damn belt was swinging on her hips… and he couldn't think of a way of stopping her without knocking her out like he had Adam… and then she'd probably never talk to him again… Better to let her walk it off… and catch up with her when she was hungry and had had time to come round to his way of thinking… Then she yelled back over her shoulder…'and If you want to stop me you're going to have to shoot me…' and heaven help him for a moment there he was tempted… He suddenly had a wild idea of waking Adam up so he could complain to him… She was being totally ridiculous – So Miles had tried to kill him – once, well maybe twice… but hadn't been able to pull the trigger, even when Bass had offered himself up to him… Rachael on the other hand… well, ok she'd almost certainly have a go, but if he could swing Miles around and get his brother back, Rachael would fall into line…she wouldn't want her darling Miles to be unhappy with her…
…..
Charlie kept walking…and walking… Totally peeved that she hadn't stopped to grab her pack or crossbow… She had her belt knife and her jacket so that was something…and a couple of diamonds left in her little pocket bag that she was glad she hadn't given to the Bookie, the slimy little turd… but she was totally determined not to go back… he could have tried harder to stop her though damn it… so did that mean he didn't really want to? And all this just to save his silly ass from her Mom and Miles (why did he feel so fucking obliged to them anyway?), but then she did owe him for helping to save hers…
She'd doubled back a couple of times, then branched off to a different road and was pretty confident that even the great Sebastian Monroe wouldn't be able to follow her – even if he did want to, but if he did surely he'd have tried a bit harder for a bit longer…? She'd be a liar if she said she didn't miss him already though… she sighed heavily… Who'd have thought she'd get so attached to him in such a short time…he was infuriating but good company…and as for scratching itches… well…he was amazingly good at that but Charlie Monroe would have to scratch her own itches now… Charlie Monroe…? Freudian slip… Get a grip…
Damn it she was getting really hungry – and thirsty, although she'd found a stream back a bit further and had had a drink there, but, given that her water bottle was also on the list of things she'd left behind… it was another case of suck it up Charlie… It was also getting dark, and she'd have to find somewhere to stop for the night sometime soon. There had been a broken signpost back down the road a bit, for a town called Pottsboro…she hadn't been able to read the mile number but she was hoping it wasn't far now…Then suddenly, up ahead she saw an uneven line of lights through the trees…
…..
Bass wasn't far behind her…just out of sight, and definitely out of range of her excellent hearing and even better instincts… He'd seen the signpost too and hidden the wagon…following her on foot for a time, just to make sure he knew where she was headed - some little one horse town (literally, he'd seen the horse….) called Pottsboro… It seemed pretty nondescript, an ordinary little place – one tavern…a few houses, people here and there – a few dogs, and the horse… He guessed she'd go to the tavern for a meal…and maybe a bed for the night, although looking at the place, bed bugs and lice were almost certainly going to be sharing the beds… She'd probably prefer the company of the stars… He had time to go back to the wagon, set up camp and bed the horses down though… then he'd come back and see if she was ready to see reason…
….
Charlie sat at the ratty bar and ate her bowl of stew… It was pretty disgusting, but it was hot and filling and there were things resembling meat and vegetables in it…and, more importantly, she was hungry enough that her boots had started to look tasty… so she was grateful they'd had the stew... The place had looked ok from the outside, although it was seedy and a bit unkempt, but to be truthful, she was feeling a bit nervous now… managing to keep her front looking tough though, wasn't good to look like a victim… There were five biggish, rough looking men sitting round a table, playing some sort of card game… and another two playing pool, but they'd all pretty well ignored her apart from the usual sort of once over people did to newcomers when she first arrived… and the barman had been polite enough, serving her with something resembling whisky although if it were in the same room with a glass of that they wouldn't recognise each other… she'd drunk it anyway…
But now he had come to sit next to her and her alarm bells started to ring… 'I like a woman who can hold her liquor…' he said as she finished the glass… smiling in a sort of slimy way and getting far too close… She got her knife hand ready but still tried to play nice… giving him a sort of half smile and a non committal grunt… 'Have another… on the house…' he pushed another glass her way… she finished the last spoonful of stew and pushed the plate away, taking a casual look around the room…just to check out what was happening… the guys at the table had all put their cards down…so, uh oh… She stood up… 'Thanks but no thanks… There's somewhere I've got to be…' again, she thought she was being polite but he stood too and smirked at her…'Ouch…there's no reason to be so rude about it…' but she was heading for the door… and damn, there was a large, locked padlock on it… Shit... she pulled on the door anyway… it rattled but stayed shut… Charlie looked back at the room and the men at the table were all standing now… 'You should let me go…' she said, knowing that they wouldn't… Shit again… Was there a sign on her head – or on her tits or something? What was it with the men around here...?
'Not just yet…' the barman was creeping up on her and the other six were much closer now, hovering in a semi circle, their eyes intent on her… some smiling, some just looking… no one saying anything, and they made Gregor the creep seem like some sort of silly joke… She pulled her knife out… waiting for one of them to make the first move… then the tall black guy did, rushing at her… knocking her back into the window, she felt it give way, glass smashing outwards – sharp pain in her elbow… then a couple more of them rushed her, the first laying one on the side of her face, she felt her lip split inside, tasting blood… shoving the other guy, she nearly dropped her knife, only just managing to hold on to it… reaching for and grabbing a pool cue from the table in front of her with her other hand and breaking it in half, using it to smash into them… but they broke around her like waves, just moving out of reach then coming back to hit her again…
Barman was staying back, just watching… then another big guy came forward, getting a slash across his shoulder for his trouble… she'd just managed to graze him but then he and the others sort of hung back… surrounding her… She lunged at them, but they simply moved out of her way…their eyes hungry, waiting and circling like wolves round a wounded deer… One of them darted forward and hit her a backhander and she went flying into the corner…slowly sliding down the wall… then everything started to go slow…like she was underwater, sounds were far away and the men's faces came in and out of focus…'What did you give me…?' her voice came out sounding slurry… barman grinned, suddenly right in front of her, his teeth showing in a horrible smile… she flailed out with her knife – somewhere in his direction, the pool cue falling from her suddenly nerveless other hand… She looked up at the bar where her glass and plate were – empty… he came even closer…. 'Looks like you can't hold your liquor after all…' and his hands came reaching…
Charlie felt a sense of hopelessness land on her like a stone… She was fighting to stay conscious let alone fight, although she'd tried… but there were seven of them… and she could feel herself sliding further down the wall onto the floor, unable to keep herself up… So much for keeping her stupid to a minimum… there was no Miles or Maggie, she'd never counted on her Mom anyway, and so, so stupid… she'd left Monroe behind… and he wouldn't look for her again…would he? And how would he know where she was…? She had nobody now…
…
Bass was just stepping out of the woods a short distance away from the building, his boots crunching on the remains of the bitumen at the edge of the old road when he heard the sounds of glass breaking and fighting coming from the tavern… he moved quickly just in case, although surely she couldn't have got herself into trouble again this soon? But yes, of course she fucking had…trouble seemed to follow her around like a pet dog, and hadn't he'd warned her about places like this…? As he got closer he could see the shapes of several men clearly through the broken window, all looking one way – at Charlie, standing with her back to him… then one of them backhanded her, sending her flying… Bass went for the door, finding it locked from the inside… then seeing red didn't cover it… he was seeing blood…
He kicked the door and it went flying open – the padlock swinging off the broken edge of the door… and he just stood there for a moment out of time… his eyes searching for Charlie… There, in the corner, slumped against the wall, some part of him noting that she didn't appear badly injured… she looked totally out of it though… the bastards must have drugged her… The part of him that was a soldier was at the same time cataloguing the positions of the men in the room, calculating his moves… There were seven of them… seven… against one woman… all of them standing there stunned, angry at the intrusion but recovering quickly…
He drew his swords…and he felt his mind and body focus on the job, his eyes empty of anything but that, although they appeared burning blue to Charlie who stared into them, at him, standing there like something out of a dream… But he wasn't a dream… he was here, somehow he'd found her, and he had two swords… She didn't know he used two swords - at the same time…wow…. Then she finally let herself fall all the way to the floor…the wall behind her holding her head and shoulders up so she could still see everything…
His eyes seemed just like any other eyes to the men watching him… The men who were already dead but just didn't know it yet…. Then time seemed to slow down as the first one rushed him, clumsy and off balance… and then he was dead, and Bass moved on to the next and the next…and the three after that… He was aware of Charlie watching him… her eyes blinking and unfocused, but somehow she managed to keep her eyes on him – a sort of wonder in them as he slaughtered all of them for her, for fucking daring to do this to her…daring to think of putting their filthy hands on her…for fucking drugging her…for…. there was another word but he didn't want to even think that one… Then there was only one more of them left… he'd been hiding behind the others as they fell and was staring at Monroe like he was death himself, and he wasn't wrong… Bass shoved him backwards onto the pool table, his machete against the man's throat, holding him down, and with his eyes fixed on Charlie's face, holding her gaze with his…he gave her the man's death as a present and a promise and an apology for nearly being too fucking late… driving his sword straight through the rotten heart and deep into the table underneath…
He stood for a moment… breathing hard…his heart thudding with the almost paralysing terror of nearly having been too late to save her… they'd nearly had her… and the thought made him want to kill them all over again… He took a slow, deep breath, trying to get back into the moment, and himself… He needed to get her out of here fast in case there were others around who'd heard the noise… There'd been a couple of people on the street when he arrived, and he didn't want to have to deal with a crowd of possibly vengeful townsfolk – although by the look of the men he'd just liberated from life, the town would be grateful to him for liberating them from their vermin…but he needed to get Charlie away from here now, and get her sober… He wiped his swords on dead guy's shirt and slid them back in their sheaths with the smooth ease of long, long practise…
Charlie gazed at his face as he came closer… it was the strangest feeling… he got bigger and closer but the only thing she could see clearly were his eyes…she blinked and it must have taken a long time because then he was there and he was picking her up… Her head fell back against his shoulder like it was meant to be there…she tried to put her arms up around his neck to help but they wouldn't do what she told them… she felt the muscles in his arms flexing as he took her weight, shuffling her a little to get her settled against him... 'Good thing I'm little and… skinny…. Monroe…' shit her voice sounded weird… she felt a rumble in his chest…. He laughed down at her and she watched the laugh come out of his lovely lips, over his curly beard… she followed it with her eyes and smiled back, it was a wonderfully sexy laugh… Wow… she wondered what drugs they'd given her…
Then his chest was rising and falling, rising and falling against her cheek… It was very nice, like being in a hammock… and then, the ceiling was moving…and suddenly it was stars…. She lifted her hand 'Look, Monroe…stars…' she felt a drop of water on her face… 'And it's raining…' she frowned and looked up because there were no clouds so how could it be… but it wasn't raining…it was him…but it couldn't be… 'Monroe…why are you…?' His arms tightened around her but he kept on walking…'Charlotte…' his voice was so…angry? Sad? Angry…? She couldn't work it out…too complicated… He took in a deep breath, she knew that because she could feel his chest suck it in, then he let it out and she felt that too…. 'Charlie… Why did you…? They would have… fuck, Charlie, I was only just in time…' She made a huge, huge effort and reached up to pat his cheek…she could feel her mouth stretching into a wide grin…'It's ok…You saved me Monroe… and you've got two swords…' she looked confused…'I think… But how did you find me…?' everything was getting very hazy… and then he put her down on something soft, it felt like a blanket… and sat down next to her… 'Charlie…' he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to her lips… 'You're not as hard to track as you think… now go to sleep…I'll keep watch… we can argue again when you wake up…' she felt so warm and floaty… 'What were we arguing about, Bass?'
Monroe sat and watched through the night as she slept… she'd called him Bass…
…
AN: there's a bit more to this story but I thought I'd stop here for now as the word count was getting bigger and bigger…. Hope you enjoyed it, please leave a comment if you have a minute, I really love reading them – and like others have said, comments inspire us to write more and try harder :D All the best, Magpie
The last couple of days had been non-stop emotional and physical ups and downs, something like she imagined flying would be – in a plane like the one Aaron had said he owned once (she remembered the time when they were going to Philly with Maggie and had foolishly gone into that derelict plane only to be attacked by some other creeps…dear, clever Maggie… she had saved them that time…).
that he is good at killing but much better with her uncle
Finish when she wakes up… what makes you think you've got a choice – 'do you hate me that much?', 'no…its them… I don't know how I feel about them… what if they don't want your help, what if they just want to kill you? Love scene… searching her…
