Chapter 9:
Circling round the moon
Catching her eye, Bass gave Charlie a searching look receiving an understanding nod in return.
"Gotta admit that was kinda fun back there," Bass said walking into the main room where Miles was pacing.
Miles rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to spew forth a snarky reply when the outer door swung open to reveal Rachel and Aaron.
"Rachel."
"Bass. You're back." Rachel replied looking around expectantly. "You weren't able to find Charlie?"
He looked at her for a moment before turning his head and whistling.
Out on the deck, Charlie heard a series of whistles that she and Bass had practiced on the road. This particular one meant he needed her, immediately. With a quick glance at their prisoner, she headed inside.
Charlie sought out Bass with her eyes only to see him tilt his head towards the door. Following the motion she looked over to discover Aaron and her mom.
"Great." Miles said watching the looks being exchanged by mother and daughter. He just hoped that Rachel didn't realize Charlie was gravitating towards Bass. "Sorry folks, but the family reunion is going to have to wait. Fry is gonna be here any moment and I'm supposed to be alone. Bass, over there. You three upstairs." MIles ordered in no mood to be argued with.
Charlie followed her mother up the stairs and in turn was followed by Aaron who immediately pulled her in for a hug. "I am so happy to see you," he said before pushing her to arms length to look her over.
"It's good to see you, too." Charlie said smiling back at the man who had been through so much with her.
Taking a deep breath, she turned to her mother. "How have you been?"
"I've been better, Charlie."
"Of course you have," Charlie muttered turning her head away.
Aaron, sensing the tension in the air, hushed them as they heard a man's voice drift up the stairs.
They stood watching each other awkwardly until the sound of a gunshot shattered the quiet night.
"Shit!" Charlie exclaimed tearing down the stairs, grabbing her shotgun only to find Miles and Bass at each others throats as they stood over the body of a dead Texas Ranger. "What happened?" she demanded looking between the two men in disbelief.
"Your husband just shot a Texas Ranger, that's what!" Miles yelled at her.
"Her husband?" Aaron squeaked as Rachel picked up a nearby rifle pointing it at Bass.
"Oh, that's just perfect. Thank you Miles. That's very helpful." Charlie snarled, swinging her own shotgun up, pointing it at her mother as she moved to stand in front of Bass, who watched the stand-off between mother and daughter warily.
"Get out of my, Charlie."
"That's not going to happen."
"Oh. God." Miles bit out dramatically. "Hold on Rachel, just hold on."
"Why are you of all people protecting him? Oh wait, let me guess, he's a changed man and you were stupid enough to believe him.?"
Miles watched as Charlie's mouth flattened out and then relaxed as Bass approached her from behind, laying a hand on her waist. He leaned in, whispering something low enough that only she could hear. Charlie shook her head, rejecting whatever he was saying, turning her attention back to Rachel.
"He's my husband and you'll damn well respect him in my presence and if you ever pull a gun on him again it will be the last thing you ever do. He's here because we need him to win this war against the Patriots and he's here because I need him to be.
"Everybody just calm down," Miles hissed grabbing the gun away from Rachel, glaring at Charlie until she lowered the shotgun and turned towards Bass who wrapped a hand around the back of her neck, drawing her close as he looked over at Miles who was restraining a fuming Rachel.
"All we gotta do now is frame the patriots for this and we'll have our war. Texas is gonna go nuts. That is what you wanted, isn't it?" Bass asked before pulling Charlie towards the railing with him.
It took a flat order from Bass to get Charlie to agree to go to her Grandfathers with Rachel and Aaron.
"Miles and me, we've been doing this a long time, Charlie." Bass soothed, "and the less you know the better. Take the opportunity to get cleaned up and sleep in a real bed. Miles will bring you to me tomorrow, alright?"
"I don't like this Bass. I don't like us being separated." Charlie replied looking over at Rachel who was being soothed by Miles. "I don't trust her."
"I know," he whispered sliding his fingers through the hair right above her ears, pulling her in close. "It's just for tonight, I promise."
"Promise me that you'll be careful." she demanded grasping his forearms.
"I promise, now you need to go and let us do this, okay?"
"Okay," she sighed lifting up on her toes to kiss him, ignoring the scuffling noises behind her.
Breaking the kiss she gave him a smile as she rubbed her nose against his before pulling away.
"Hey, Charlie?" he called after her.
"Yeah?" she asked turning towards him.
"Soon."
She nodded in return. "Soon."
Bass watched as she followed Rachel and Aaron out the door before turning his attention to Miles and the job at hand.
They wiped down the scene, staging a fake one before dumping Fry's body in the river, moving down stream so that they were able to watch the rest of the Rangers make their way to the mill. When they found Fry's body and headed for Willoughby, Bass turned to Miles. "Told you it would work. You wanted a war. You got one."
Charlie followed her mother to a white-washed, two-story farmhouse on the outskirts of town. She came to a stop, looking it over before following her mother up the steps and inside. As soon as the door was open she could hear an older man calling her mother's name.
When she rounded the corner to look in the room, she smiled at the man standing there.
"Charlie?" He gasped a smile lighting his face.
She returned the smile walking towards him. "Grandpa."
Gene embraced her, pressing a warm kiss to her temple. "I can't believe you're alive and here. I bet you're tired. Rachel, Help me get her a room set up."
"Grandpa, I'm only staying tonight. The couch will be fine."
Gene looked between his daughter and granddaughter with a concerned look. "Ok. Do you at least want to get cleaned up?"
"That would be great. Thank you."
The next morning, Charlie showed up at Miles apartment with a rabbit she had caught on the way. She figured Bass would be hungry by now.
They were outside the town gates before Miles finally felt safe to talk. "So, you and Bass?"
"Yeah Miles, me and Bass." she said exhaling noisily.
"Hey, I'm not judging, I'm just wanna know where you've been and what you've been doing. I wasn't lying when I said that I missed you." He said sincerely, bumping her shoulder with his arm.
Charlie glanced over at him before looking back at the road. "I drifted for a while and then someone pointed me towards New Vegas."
"New Vegas? Jesus, Charlie that's a hell hole of the worst kind."
"Yeah, I know." she replied her eyes going dark. "I got a job in the tents."
"Fighting?"
"Bare knuckle fighting against other women. Turns out you taught me well. I was the reigning champ from my arrival up to my disappearance."
"God, Charlie. That had to be hard on you. On your body."
Charlie nodded. "I was in pretty bad shape when Bass found me. He saved my life in more ways than one." Miles stayed silent as she gathered her thoughts. "I had no idea where you'd gone or how to find you and I was just tired. Tired of everything. I had taken on more and more fights pushing myself to see how much I could take. Then, one night there's a knock on my door and lo and behold who's standing in front of me but General Sebastian Monroe himself. I was in the process of slamming the door in his face when he said that you had sent him."
"And you believed him?" Miles asked
Charlie shrugged "I had no reason not to and It certainly didn't hurt his case when a bounty hunter took a chunk out of my arm. The next thing I knew we were running for our lives across the desert until we reached the church. They gave us shelter and food."
"But with a price." Miles ground out.
"In order to stay together we had to be married. Bass made me realize that he was the best option in a bad situation."
She heard a snarl leave Miles mouth before his words. "I just bet he did."
Charlie came to a stop, turning to face her Uncle. "Look, like it or not, Bass and I are married now and I don't have any desire to change that. He's the first person that's been totally open and honest with me. He doesn't hide things from me and that's more than can be said for you or my parents. He's good to me and good for me, Miles."
"But what about your Dad and Danny? What about Nora?"
"What about Bass' parents and sisters, Shelly and the baby, Emma and his missing son, and lets not forget how you held a gun to his head before walking out on him!" she nearly shouted, her emotions getting the best of her.
Miles moved forward grabbing her arms as he pulled her close.
"It's awful, Miles. How can one person be expected to handle that much tragedy?" She asked burying her face in his shoulder.
"They can't, Charlie." Miles replied stroking her hair. "Bass will never be the same person that he was. If you can bring him any kind of peace, I won't begrudge him that, but I won't sit by and watch you get hurt, either."
