A/N: Hi, So I thought I would let you know, I have this entire thing written in my head through the entirety of season 2, but it's going to take a while to get there. But what I'm saying is I probably have a few hundred thousand words in me if you guys are up to it. Also the next few chapters (and the entire story...) will be quite Charlie-centric. Bass will probs be wallowing. I don't know we haven't gotten there yet. Sorry and enjoy.
Also, Charlie and Bass are no longer on the same exact time line, partially because Charlie's story line is going to move more slowly than Bass' for a while.
And no sex this chapter. Next chapter though. Okay I think that's all.
I DO NOT OWN REVOLUTION, but I do own all OCs.
Charlie woke slowly, stretching her arms over her head, back arching. For the first time in months her muscles didn't ache painfully. A smile broke over her face as she wriggled, welcoming the sensation of the soft sheets over her skin. The mattress she was on was soft. Hell, it better be at the price she was paying for it. She had been taken aback at the small fortune Martha was charging her. In the few months that she was in Willoughby, Charlie had only managed to scrounge up just over and ounce of diamonds. And that was because she had sold almost everything the had. Plus she hunted for hours, killing more than she needed to in order to sell it when she could. She never spent more than a couple diamonds at a time. And even that was purely essentials. If she hadn't been given the extra diamonds from Miles then she would probably be screwed right now. Her uncle had more than tripled her meager amount. It was more than likely the last of his money, but he wouldn't have given it to her if he wasn't sure. And Charlie had absolutely no idea where he had been keeping them or how he had kept hold of them through the tower. When she had realized how much he had actually given her she had wanted to kill him, but now she was just grateful that he had been more practical than she was about the amount of diamonds she would need.
Charlie's heart ached as she longed for her family. She had no place that she considered home now, but she wanted to be with her mom. And her uncle. And her grandpa. Even if she was being mostly ignored because of her mom's issues, it would have been better than not being around them. Than not having anyone. It would also be helpful to have someone actually looking out for her. Being pregnant and alone was incredibly hard for a woman in this world. And she didn't even have a place to go. Charlie just didn't want to see her family. Couldn't face them. Her mom wasn't an incredibly forgiving woman when it came to most people, so having her daughter tell her that she was pregnant with the baby of the man who had killed half of their family would not go over well.
She rolled onto her stomach, spreading her arms, savoring the feeling of the large, comfy bed. It was likely that she wouldn't have one again for months. And her ability to roll onto her stomach was going to impeded by the person growing inside of her soon. In her condition, the likelihood of finding somewhere she could stay was low; even with her hunting skills the baby was a deterrent for anyone who would take her in. Just one more mouth to feed. Suddenly fed up with the road her thoughts were running down, Charlie pushed herself up. She would fucking make it through. She had to. She was a Matheson.
She slid from the warm sheets, immediately wanting to crawl back within the softness so she wouldn't have to face her reality yet. Quickly she dressed in the clothing she had been wearing the day before, making a mental note to find a place to do laundry before she left. Her familiar leather jacket slid securely into place, Charlie glanced around, making sure she wasn't forgetting anything before leaving the room. Her eyes struck upon a mirror. One that wasn't mostly destroyed. In fact, it looked to be in near perfect condition. Curious, she wandered over to it, staring at her reflection. It wasn't often that she got to see herself. She resisted the urge to strip naked and see the different scars that peppered her body; see if the baby's presence in her body had any noticeable effects on her outward appearance yet. Being on the road, she had no time to fully comprehend what was happening to her. All she had been able to focus on was the morning sickness and the exhaustion. She could wait for her personal physical inspection until tonight.
Charlie was very careful to lock the door as she left her room. She had stashed all of her belongings in there, and she would be beyond screwed if any of them went missing. It was still very early in the morning, just after sunrise, yet Charlie wasn't surprised to find Martha in the kitchen already. She was kneading some type of dough. Charlie reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the small packet of diamonds she had prepared for Martha before collapsing last night.
"Morning." Martha glanced up at Charlie and smiled. Charlie returned it easily as she walked over to stand opposite of Martha at the center island counter. She set the packet of diamonds away from the floury portion of the surface, but well within Martha's view. "Hon, put those in the oven." Martha didn't pull her attention away from her task. Charlie thought she was insane for about two seconds before she realized Martha meant the useless electric oven. Her face quirked with an impressed look. Charlie wouldn't have thought to look there.
When she had finished stowing her payment for Martha, Charlie turned back to where the woman had finished prepping twelve small loaves of bread. Martha moved them to pans and motioned for Charlie to take one before leading them out the door to the backyard. A large brick oven was located there, their adjustment to the Texas heat that made it impossible for anyone to cook using an indoor stove most times of the year. As it was they had to use the other wood-burning stove on a small mostly enclosed porch adjacent to the kitchen for cooking. Martha placed both pans in the oven and shut the large cast iron door so they would bake as evenly as possible. She then led Charlie to a water pump so she could wash her hands.
Martha filled one of the buckets that was sitting next to the pump and starting moving back towards the house. When she got there she filled a tea kettle and put it on the stove on the side porch. She pulled day old bread from the pantry and set it in front of Charlie. Charlie pulled off a hunk and started to nibble at it. Martha busied herself preparing some tea – it must be homemade, because there hadn't been much in the way of tea or coffee since the blackout. It all went to rich people. Before the bombs dropped Georgia had started to trade somewhere in the West Indies for sugar and coffee, but that had obviously dried up after the Patriots. Martha left the tea to steep and retrieved a large bag from the pantry. She took a few textbooks out of it, as well as a stethoscope and blood pressure cuff. "Let's have a look at you. I'm going to need your jacket off." Reluctantly, Charlie peeled the protective leather from her shoulders. It had become a security blanket of sorts. A buffer between her and the world.
An old pocket watch joined the instruments on the table. "Why do you need that? Like does it work?" Martha smiled as she nodded. "It was my Daddy's. It's one that you wind, so the blackout doesn't affect it. You gotta love clockwork." Charlie nodded. The cuff went around her arm. Vaguely she remembered doing this before, but it had been so long ago. She had been so young. Danny had had to do this hundreds of times. One of the benefits of being a sickly child. Martha and Charlie sat in a comfortable silence, working in sync.
Martha finished her examination of Charlie quickly. There were no red flags for the pregnancy, it seemed healthy. For the amount of strain the girl had put herself under it was almost a wonder. Her blood pressure was normal, her resting heart rate was low, but with how active everyone was now a days it was expected. She hadn't asked about spotting yet, but figured if Charlie had noticed it she would have said something. The hardest thing today was actually woman being regular enough to conceive to begin with. In order to get pregnant, women have to have a certain amount of fat already present on their body and generally a steady food source.
Gingerly Martha slid Charlie's tank top up the younger woman's torso, exposing her belly. She wasn't showing yet, her stomach completely flat. Nodding her head, Martha was satisfied. There wasn't really anything else she could do at this point. Just feed her and give her to Cole and Ella. Hope that they could get her somewhere safe. Those two came around regularly, bringing her mostly fresh food and canning supplies. She got to keep some of it in exchange for canning them. The pickles were the most popular with those two. Must be a genetics thing. In any case they were part of the reason that the small community survived this close to the border. The caravans that came through bringing everything from flour to livestock kept life comfortable.
Martha almost regretted sending this girl with them. They weren't overtly corrupting, but she would become a fighter. A protector. Maybe she would see her again in a few years. But she put the thoughts from her head. The girl would be here for a few more days, they would make the most of it.
"You seem healthy. Any spotting or cramping?" Charlie's head shook easily. "Okay," Martha replied, nodding, "You should probably take it easy for the next few days while you can. Otherwise you're healthy. Since you're entering the second trimester you'll probably be showing in a few weeks or so. With it being your first pregnancy it might take a little bit longer. Every pregnancy is different but I see no warning signs. As of right now, you're on your way to a healthy baby." She would almost swear that the young woman's face fell slightly. In her defense she was young, getting pregnant with no support system now was unfortunate and would make her life a lot harder in the coming years.
Charlie quickly covered her expression with a smile. While she hadn't been hoping that her baby would be unhealthy, it definitely would have uncomplicated her life. She would have just been able to go home. But a baby. She hadn't really been processing, instead moving forward. Now it was hitting her like a freight train. She was going to be a mom. About a million things raced through her head, standing in the front was that she would love her baby. And if there was every another she would love it equally. Never make one feel left out, or less important. She knew her parents had tried, but with both of them she had felt second fiddle to Danny. At least he had loved her.
Martha had moved away to give Charlie her mug of tea and prepare the breakfast for the rest of her tenants. Charlie hadn't seen anyone else go to bed, but she had crashed hard. So she had no way of knowing how many people she was sharing this home with. Not wanting to get in the way, Charlie thanked her for the exam, grabbed her jacket, and went back to her room.
Suddenly tired she stripped out and slid between the cooled sheets. She had a bed and nice sheets now. She wanted to remember the feel of them on her skin, the comfort of the bed and pillows, and how waking up with a good night's sleep felt. The sun was starting to light up the sky, adding a light tinge to the horizon. The smell of the bread baking was drifting up from the backyard through her window and a peaceful feeling started to fall over her. Slowly she drifted back to sleep.
Bass was hungry. And tired. It had been a long few days. Walking across the wilderness alone gave him too much time to think. Random people who had been in Philadelphia kept creeping into his mind. The full effects of his actions had been crashing around his mind for weeks. It came in waves. Doubt, followed by regret, the self-hatred. All accompanied by the feeling of ultimate failure. He had failed everyone. And no one could know. Everyone was calling for his head. Hell, he never thought he'd be grateful that they hadn't ever been able to get cameras going again. It was likely that the only reason he was still alive is that not everyone knew what he looked like.
God he had to find a horse. He trudged on slowly, the heat around him blending the air, twisting it into the shapes of buildings and people that he used to know. When he reached the shade of a tree that had grown reasonably close to the highway he had been walking down he flopped down unceremoniously. The grass was pretty soft, at least the part of it that wasn't dry and burned from the sun. Not that bad of a bed honestly. He would stay here until the sun went low enough to stop the atmosphere from feeling like fucking Valley of Death. The view of him from the road was virtually nil, yet he would easily be able to see anyone coming. The curse of this fucking place. Everything was so damn flat.
He relaxed. The warm air stagnant around him. Going north was probably a good idea at this point. So damn hot around here. Why the fuck had he chosen to go to Arizona? Colorado probably wouldn't be much better, but the mountains would give it some coolness. And it snowed in the winter so that was a plus. Bass smiled to himself as he thought of the global warming debate that had been so all-encompassing before was far from most people's minds now. The past decade had probably done a lot of healing to the environment. Cutting carbon dioxide emissions to zero in a day? That had to have done some good.
In about a week or so he'd be in Springfield. Fighting again. At this point he didn't know if he did it for money or some fucked up sense of needing to pay for his sins. He'd like to think it was the first thing, but it had more to do with the second than he was willing to admit to himself. He thought about his life constantly. He wasn't around people much, and when he was it was professionals. A bottle was his most constant companion, but even that got a little old sometimes.
No people had come into view while he had been lying on the ground. Probably a few hours that he had been lying there, letting his mind drift from thought to thought. Charlotte kept running through his head. He kept seeing her in his minds eye, vulnerable and needy. In his head, she wanted him. Well, she needed someone and he was there. And then his mind would fly into ridiculous sexual fantasies about the girl. Woman. Technically. It was just incredibly awkward for him that he was attracted to his best friend's niece. He couldn't really put both of those together it in his head. But at least in his head she had a great body. He had known he was attracted to her when he saw her the first time, but how graphic she was in his head was surprising even to him. And he had been fantasizing about woman just about his entire life. He shook his head. He needed to get away from his thoughts for a while.
Cautiously Bass looked around, he had to keep moving, but the thin woods he was in was by far more appealing than the road. The heat of the sun was awful, even if he didn't want to stay in one place he probably should. Instead he told himself he was looking for water and got up to leave.